MEMORIAL ROSE GARDENS

Articles In This Section:

· ROSE GARDENS

· SIZE AND SHAPE OF BEDS

· THE HOME ROSE GARDEN

· PUBLIC ROSE GARDENS

· MEMORIAL ROSE GARDENS

· ROSE TEST GARDENS

The decadence already obvious in so many memorials erected relatively recently with reverence, pride and enthusiasm makes one ponder over their unsuitability and lack of permanence. In any case, few memorials of any kind have much sentimental value after two generations. Then let us be sensible and have memorials that are permanent, useful, and beautiful, whether they commemorate one individual, or numbers of men and women as do war memorials. Let us have a type that provides a sustained incentive to keep it in good order as part of the life and spirit of the community. Any memorial should express a historical or sentimental purpose in its name.

What can excel a well-kept garden, and, above all, a rose garden, in fulfilling these requirements of beauty and peaceful environment? It must be commensurate with its importance, reasonably inexpensive to maintain, easy of access to large numbers of people, and certain of attractiveness when the interest of newness has somewhat slackened. Most visitors will view it as a composite spectacle, but some will come to learn varieties and cultural methods. Both should be considered, and roses grown in as many forms as practicable.

As in the case of civic rose gardens, size and design will vary with the available space and funds for maintenance. The whole scheme should be planned and, as nearly as possible, completed the first year, when the commemorative incentive is keenest. Parts may be added year by year.

The rose garden around the Nellie Stewart Memorial in Sydney Botanic Gardens is the best known of this type in Australia. An interesting way of using climbing roses is to be seen in this garden. They are trained on almost horizontal frames that cover a terraced slope. Plate 8 shows this method of treatment, photographed after pruning had been carried out. Since 1950 Melbourne has had its Alister Clark Memorial Rose Garden, honouring Australia's greatest rose hybridist. Perth has its memorial rose garden as a tribute to deceased servicemen and servicewomen. A few small towns, for example Te Rore, New Zealand, have planted similar but less ambitious schemes. It is time we had many more.

There is, too, a different type of memorial rose garden to be found at all our large crematoriums, where each plant serves as a memorial token. Each rose is marked in honour of the person whom it commemorates. These gardens are becoming extensive and are well cared for.