Elizabeth Park II

It is rose season at Elizabeth Park in Hartford, home to the oldest public rose garden(1904) in the United States.

Roaming the grounds one Sunday morning I over-heard a man walking his dog say to a friend, “It’s incredible to have this place as our backyard, isn’t it?” His friend agreed.

In a city that has had its share of ups and downs economically, in recent decades, this gift to Hartford from banker and railroad owner Charles Pond, is a well manicured island of beauty. The entire park was designed with the help of the Olmsted landscape architecture firm, but the two and a half acre rose garden was started by the park’s first superintendent, Theodore Wirth.

The rose garden has approximately 15,000 rose bushes representing 800 varieties. Many of the flowers bloom over border fencing, grand archways, and a gazebo.

The park is open every day from sunrise to sunset.