Rose Garden at the UK Arboretum (Lexington, KY)

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

I still need to write posts for some regional Ohio gardens, but thought I'd do a little review of one in Lexington, KY that I visited over the 4th: The Rose Garden at the UK Arboretum. This is Z7a. Soil type unkown at this time. I'll update with that info if I find it.

https://arboretum.ca.uky.edu/gardens/rose

While I've visited this magnificent arboretum and garden numerous times and would encourage anyone in the area to do so, I somehow missed this section prior. It was established in 2003 with originally over 1200 different cultivars, but has the feeling of a new space as most of the roses are very small and frankly not looking too great. Many spaces are empty with only a grave marker. That's why I'm placing this in the OR section; it's apparent they don't spray the majority of the roses at all. The individual plots each have their own caretaker, but it's unclear how much leeway that gives. Do the healthy beds get sprayed by their guardian or are they just better varieties for disease resistance?

The layout is really lovely and incorporates an unusual rebar surround
for climbing roses (if only it was graced with any that climbed), a
beautiful pergola (also empty of roses), beautiful dry-laid Kentucky
stone walls that sub-divide the space and a central SS sculpture by Douwe
Blumberg reached by old Ky cobblestones commemorating those 49 souls
who died in Flight 5191 at the Buegrass airport August 27, 2006.

Included in the
collection are Rugosa, Floribunda, Hybrid Tea, Polyantha, Climbers, and
Landscape roses and Teas and Chinas. It also contains two trial beds where American Garden Rose
Selections and Star Roses are testing some of their newest roses for
performance and disease resistance according to their website. None of these beds are marked as such and many of the plantings lack tags that give a cultivar name; they have numbers only which relate to nothing any visitor can use. This was frustrating as the only beds with healthy plants were a mystery. Many of the plantings were only recognizable from my own garden. A site plan and plant list would help on their website at the least. The oldest cultivars and rugosas are found in the adjacent Fragrance Garden.

I suspect the originating spirit behind this garden has left and now no one is deeply interested in maintaining it, although it's well-weeded. Hardly anything was pruned by a human. I wonder if RRD went through the plots or if the polar vortexes of a couple years ago devastated the older plantings, many of which had wimpy growth, but remnants of past glory. It looks great in the website's photos. BS is rampant. This was actually helpful for me in that those varieties were crossed off any "want" list.

Entries to follow with pictures, some outstanding cultivars and a NOID mystery rose. I would so appreciate any Kentuckians commenting who have any knowledge of its history. No disrespect is meant to the volunteers and staff that maintain it as I applaud the concept and effort that went into establishing it and truly enjoyed seeing many new varieties and types such as the Teas and Chinas.

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6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

There's one in Saratoga called Yadoo Garden. Here's a picture of a few VQ blooms at my house out today. It's a monster and I have to sort out the canes.