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PUBLIC ROSE GARDENS

The main consideration in planning a public rose garden must be its pictorial effect; and this should be the only con­sideration in a small scheme, for it must be remembered that it is for public use and pleasure. Only roses capable of pro­ducing good displays should be grown, except in big gardens where others will have an educational value.

Provision should always be made for expansion. It is wise to plan a large scheme developing from a smaller lay-out. The smaller garden can be constructed and then added to from time to time. The people will flock to a well-kept public rose garden in such thousands as quickly to show the civic authori­ties their wisdom in planting it. Queen Mary's Rose Garden at Regent's Park, London, the Bagatelle Gardens in Paris, the Sangerhausen Garden in Germany, the seven-acre rose garden in Portland, Oregon, the Brooklyn Rose Gardens, the rose garden of seven and a half acres in Exposition Park, Los Angeles-these and hundreds of lesser schemes are only the forerunners of vast public rose gardens in every large town with civic pride.

Where are Australia's public rose gardens? Why not begin with gardens of, say, one acre or thereabouts?

I have recently read of the following good planning: the garden area is three acres and contains about three thousand roses in about six hundred and fifty species and varieties. It is bounded by a Doric pergola at one end and by a wooden trellis or concrete posts on the sides. Towards one end is a large rectangular mound providing a vantage point from which to view the garden as a whole. The pergola and lattice-work are covered by climbers of many types, especially climbing Hybrid Teas, Hybrid Giganteas, and Hybrid Wichuraianas. Inside these is a row of species, interesting for their blooms, foliage, and hips, as well as for their historical relationship to their more highly developed descendants. All the beds to­wards the centre of the scheme are filled with Hybrid Poly-anthas (Floribundas), one variety to each bed. The remaining beds are mostly devoted to Hybrid Teas, again one variety to each bed. The walks are spanned by ten double arches for climbers. Pillars and tripods are scattered throughout the beds to support suitable varieties and take away any sense of flatness. A pool is the central feature. The rose garden in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens is probably the best of its kind in Australia. There are nearly twenty-five thousand roses in New Farm Park, Brisbane. Commonwealth Avenue and Parliament House Gardens, Canberra, contain large plantings of roses.

New Zealand has done well in planting extensive public rose gardens in Parnell Park, Auckland, and in the Botanic Gardens, Christchurch, as well as the large Rose Trial Ground conducted by the National Rose Society of New Zealand at the Massey Agricultural College, Palmerston North. Parnell Park contains over five thousand rose plants. Morrinsville is only a small town but it has, by a fine spirit of co-operation between local organizations, converted an unsightly area into a now well-known civic garden composed entirely of roses. A magnifi­cent planting of Floribundas has been made along the Bruce Highway, leading into Brisbane from the north. It is a mile in length and contains many thousands of rose plants arranged in beds of one variety. Floribundas are ideal for wayside schemes such as this.