Friday, October 1, 2010

Skywatch Friday - Tulsa Rose Garden

The Tulsa Municipal Rose Garden was constructed as a series of terraces using hand labor and teams of horses as a W.P.A. project from 1932 and 1935.  The panorama was created with Autostitch.



Older photos courtesy of the Beryl Ford Collection/Rotary Club of Tulsa, Tulsa City-County Library and Tulsa Historical Society.



The Rose Garden's five terraces begin at the top of a gentle slope and end 900 feet west at Peoria Avenue.  English ivy-covered stone walls and steps connect the different levels.  Pools or fountains are found on most levels.  Junipers,  deciduous holly,  and magnolias are all found amidst the wide array of roses in the gardens  It is an All-American Rose Society test garden containing 6,000 individual rose plants in 250 varieties.  Location of each type of rose may be found at the Rose Garden map link


Smokey and I spent several hours on Wednesday visiting four of the five terraces and took lots of photos of the beautiful roses which have survived the heat of summer.  I think I may make Sunday "Rose Day" to share some of the varieties.

9 comments:

Kay L. Davies said... [Reply to comment]

What a beautiful garden. Interesting to know how it was built, too. Amazing how some roses can't take the heat whereas others can.
Thanks for sharing this with all of us.

Kay
Alberta, Canada

The Write Girl said... [Reply to comment]

These are beautiful photos...thank you for sharing the history of the Tulsa Rose Garden as well. Your post reads as a tour guide. Lovely!

Colin Campbell said... [Reply to comment]

Very interesting. Never been to Tulsa.

Rune Eide said... [Reply to comment]

A historical perspective on this beautiful garden was very interesting. It goes to show that there is much work behind what might seem nice and simple.

Yogi♪♪♪ said... [Reply to comment]

Different take on the Rose Garden and I loved the historical pics.

There is also a geocache in the garden.

Looking forward to your "Rose Day" pics.

DrillerAA09 said... [Reply to comment]

Time to stop and smell the roses. It's been a long time since I've visited the rose garden.

Jan n Jer said... [Reply to comment]

What a gorgeous place to visit, I can just smell the roses!

Lois said... [Reply to comment]

What a beautiful place! I like seeing the historical photos too.

The Redneck Rosarian said... [Reply to comment]

Great shots of a beautiful garden. Great to get a historical perspective also.