Elizabeth Park Rose Garden
Hartford, Connecticut
For many years, the Litchfield Garden Club has supported a bed of roses (Johann Strauss) in Elizabeth Park in Hartford. The roses of Elizabeth Park are remarkable for their variety and beauty and particularly for the degree of difficulty in growing roses in the harsh New England climate.
The area known as Elizabeth Park (www.elizabethpark.org) was once owned by Charles M. Pond, a wealthy industrialist, who in 1904, bequeathed the land to the City of Hartford to be used as a horticultural park named for his wife Elizabeth. It is the largest municipal rose garden in the United States.
Today Elizabeth Park’s 102 acres contains 15,000 roses, greenhouses, lawns, picnic grove, a pond and recreation areas. For anyone visiting Connecticut in June, it is a “must see” stop.
The park is commemorated in the November 2009 release of Ali Whyte’s book, The Roses of Elizabeth Park (http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/details/9074145)
The book contains photographs of the garden, history of the park and wonderful photography. Ms. Whyte has donated a portion of the proceeds of the sale of this book to the Friends of Elizabeth Park for the care and maintenance of the garden.
Hartford, Connecticut
For many years, the Litchfield Garden Club has supported a bed of roses (Johann Strauss) in Elizabeth Park in Hartford. The roses of Elizabeth Park are remarkable for their variety and beauty and particularly for the degree of difficulty in growing roses in the harsh New England climate.
The area known as Elizabeth Park (www.elizabethpark.org) was once owned by Charles M. Pond, a wealthy industrialist, who in 1904, bequeathed the land to the City of Hartford to be used as a horticultural park named for his wife Elizabeth. It is the largest municipal rose garden in the United States.
Today Elizabeth Park’s 102 acres contains 15,000 roses, greenhouses, lawns, picnic grove, a pond and recreation areas. For anyone visiting Connecticut in June, it is a “must see” stop.
The park is commemorated in the November 2009 release of Ali Whyte’s book, The Roses of Elizabeth Park (http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/details/9074145)
The book contains photographs of the garden, history of the park and wonderful photography. Ms. Whyte has donated a portion of the proceeds of the sale of this book to the Friends of Elizabeth Park for the care and maintenance of the garden.