Snug as a bug in central Hartford, Connecticut, The Rose Garden at Elizabeth Park is a 2.5 acre oasis, containing approximately 800 rose varieties and 15,000 individual plants. I’d first visited this jewel 20-some years ago and at the time I was a gardener but not yet a rose gardener. Perhaps it was there the rose bug bit me. The Rose Garden at Elizabeth Park is jaw-droppingly beautiful. What first strikes visitors are the series of arches laden with rambling roses which anchor the beds and borders. I felt, as I passed beneath the arches, as though I had been transported to France, not minutes away from the bustling I-95 in the insurance capitol of the world. There are roses everywhere–covering fences, posts, pillars, arches, and filling up beds. Benches, placed along the outer perimeter invite wanderers to rest whilst enveloped by billowing roses (the canes of which are the thickness of young trees.) A new addition is currently under construction: the Heritage Rose Garden. This garden will eventually contain 100 Old Garden Roses planted in raised, stone beds laid out in a rosette design and lined with crushed gravel paths. I was the only one there that morning and as I am quite in love with Old Garden Roses, I greeted each one as old friends knowing that no one could see me being silly, although they would probably understand. Elizabeth Park itself is a lush 102 acres and contains many walking paths, herb, rock and perennial gardens, greenhouses, a pond and stream, and a welcoming café in their visitor center. I wish we could have stayed longer but we were trying to avoid some pretty serious weather that day so it was a short, but sweet visit. As for these photos, I thought about how I wanted to present the rose garden to you and realizing that this garden is highly photographed and all over the web, I wanted to do something different: In honor of the fact the Rose Garden at Elizabeth Park is the oldest public rose garden in America (celebrating it’s Centennial in 2004) I thought it would be lovely to make these images appear as though they were taken from an antique rose book such as this one. I hope you enjoy the photo tour.
Jesse, my husband, so very patient (and not knowing I took this photo of him) while he waits for me. What a man!
Stunning photos!! What a setting for a wedding that would make!
The photo of Jesse cracked me up! Typical shot of a long-suffering husband!;)
Hahaha, so true!
I loved that shot of Jesse too .. just waiting peacefully! I was JUST trying to think of the name of this garden, since we are visiting Hartford this summer I wanted to see it again.It IS a stunning place! Beautiful photos!
Oh you’re going to love it. Make sure you visit the greenhouse and perennial gardens so you can tell me about it. We had to leave too soon!
Oh, I think I’m in love. I don’t think I could ever leave that place. Now I need to go pay it a visit. Thanks for sharing this lovely place. I love all the pictures.
So glad you enjoyed the tour! It was difficult narrowing down which photos to share. (I had about 50 of them–yikes)
Wow, what prolific roses! The photos and roses are stunning, I can only imagine the scent was as well 🙂
It was wonderful. The Heritage Garden was, of course, the most scented…
Stunning! Absolutely stunning! It’s like another world there. Le sigh… It’s now on my wish-list of places to visit. PS~ I often have to sneak photos of my wonderful husband, to avoid his making what I call the ‘sneezer’ face when I take his pic 🙂
Haha! Tell him my family tease me about the same thing–that’s why you rarely see a photo of me because I always somehow make a weird face. 😉
What an amazing garden and sweet husband you have! Loved your photo’s!!
Madelief x
Thank you Madelief! So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
I love Erin’s comment about a wedding – Wow… it would be the most gorgeous wedding ever. Strange, these photos kinda’ give me goosebumps. Roses have a very mysterious beauty. And I adore the shot of your man sitting there patiently; mine would do the same… but have his iPhone out. 🙂
Hi Sarah! I know what you mean about the mysterious beauty and don’t take this the wrong way but I’m glad the photos gave you goosebumps b/c that was the feeling I was going for–you know like when you see an old Victorian photo and it’s creepy and lovely at the same time? The Mister had his iPhone out too at one point. Thank heavens for that little device to keep him occupied while I traipse around all these gardens! 😉
I had not seen this. exceptionally beautiful. I could just smell the roses. They had an unusually beautiful showing this year. Thanks for the memories
So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
look and loved