Of the existing rose beds, fewer than half were planted, and lacked the type of specialized care that comes from expert volunteers, said Sandra Rodriguez, program coordinator for the city’s Neighborhood Services division.
Rodriguez and her team partnered with the Committee for a Clean and Beautiful Glendale and the LA Rose Society to replant the garden, offering a park facility in exchange for oversight and maintenance of the rose garden, said Marcia Sanchez-Walsh, president of the organization’s local chapter.
Sanchez-Walsh, whose group recently merged with the Tinseltown Rose Society, said members agreed to maintain the garden for their use of the Joe Bridges Clubhouse at Glenoaks Park. City officials also agreed to install a new irrigation system and supply nutrients and insect spray to the garden at 600 Hahn Ave.
“It came together at the right place at the right time,” she said, referring to the partnership and later donation of the bare-root roses by growers Jackson & Perkins, Weeks Roses and Star Roses. “We couldn’t have done it without the city or the help of Dr. Tommy Cairns.”
An internationally renowned rose expert who headed up the American Rose Society and World Federation of Rose Societies, Cairns paced the park this weekend, providing guidance on planting techniques after the garden was color coordinated.
Cool temperatures and moist conditions made for an ideal time to get the “best of” selections of roses in the ground in time for an April bloom, he said, “because roses don’t like to soak in water.”
“They’re not a neglect plant,” said Cairns, a toxicologist by trade. “This kind of synergism is impressive for a project of this sort.”
