Some Rose Garden History.......
Long before Silicon Valley, or even the Valley
of Heart’s Delight, San Jose was known for its roses.
In the late 20’s, San Jose hosted the Fiesta De Las Rosas,
a
major rose festival and parade. An
editorial of 1926 implored people to “kick up their
heels and dance on the street . . .park . . .and tip of the
flagpole” with a headline “Give it the Full Name
With a Gay Swing, as Though You Were Dancing the Flamingo.”
As this was Prohibition era it continued, “If
you’re a Wet, dance to make up for the booze you lack.
If you’re a dry, dance to prove that you can be just as jolly
without booze as Wets are with it.”
Dancing was a big part of the Fiesta, but the real focus was
clear “Grow roses.
But this is more important – think roses.
Dream roses."
On November 8, 1926 the Santa Clara
County Rose Society (SCCRS) was born and the group organized a Rose
Planting Day with thousands of red roses, primarily Paul’s Scarlet
Climber, to be planted throughout the valley.
From the Dec 4, 1928 Evening News “plant all
highways leading into the city with red roses” so that
“in a few years our valley will be famous throughout America as the
“Rose Garden of the West.””
A
community wide love of roses, and the efforts of the Rose Society
set the stage for a world-class garden for San Jose. On Nov 1928 the
City Council voted to set aside part of the park (formerly a prune
orchard) at the corner of Naglee and Dana as a Municipal Rose
Garden. On April 7, 1931 the President
of the American Rose Society, J. Horace McFarland and John McLaren,
famed architect of Golden Gate Park, broke ground.
The first rose planted was a Castilian rose, thought to be a
descendent of a rose brought to California by the Mission Fathers.
On June 2, 1931 the San Jose Mercury Herald published the
plan proposed by John McLaren, accepted by the City Council the
night before. The plan presented by Mrs. Fremont Older of the SCCRS
comprised of a formal area for hybrid teas, a section of old fashion
and species roses, a rose nursery, outdoor theatre area, and
something that would surprise current residents – tennis courts and
a baseball diamond.
Though
the tennis courts and baseball diamond were omitted in final plans,
many other features were added through the generosity of the
community. Rotary Club donated a
contribution of $1000 for the sixty-foot circular pool, the Sun Dial
was a gift of Mrs. Derby of the SCCRS, and thru the rose society
Mrs. Andrew Christensen donated the ornamental gates.
Even more significant during this Depression era construction
was reported on Feb 27, 1932
“a crew of 32 men has been at work preparing
beds at the rose gardens. Funds to pay
these men, who have been unemployed and are heads of families
residing in this city, were raised by City employees donating a
percentage of their salaries.”
Besides the Castillian rose,
what were the original roses planted in the Rose Garden?
The SCCRS scrapbook contains an undated drawing of the layout
of the formal portion of the garden. I
researched the roses laid out on the map, and as the varieties date
from 1930 or earlier, I believe it may be the original hybrid tea
collection. The roses listed include
Golden Gate (1891), Kitchener of Khartoum (1917), Mme. Butterfly
(1918); the newest being President Herbert Hoover (1930).
Besides the formal collection of hybrid teas, the original
garden contained as reported on Jul 3, 1933 “sections
devoted to old-fashioned roses from gardens planted by early Spanish
and American pioneers; a Mission plot which already contains rose
plants from thirteen of the old missions.”
The collection eventually contained roses from all but 3 of
the 21 missions, and “Martha Washington rose, a slip
from the original planted by Martha Washington” supplied by the
Phelan estate, reported Feb 27, 1932.
Sadly, none of the original or historic roses remain today, believed
the last vestiges removed during the ‘50s. A Mercury News article
Apr 20, 1958 boasts “the collection this year includes
a large number of new varieties, to replace some of the old
standbys.” Almost half a century
later, a desire to save historic roses from extinction resulted in
the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden and its design as a botanical
collection.
One
last bit from the archive to share, the Mercury in 1955 revealed
“one fogbound morning in
1951 a division of Fighting Squadron 192, on a routine training
flight from Moffet Field, accidentally dropped a dummy eight-inch
practice bomb on the Rose Garden. The
“bomb” landed among the rose bushes, narrowly missing several
gardeners.”
Talk about a blast from the past . . .