A Rosy Sunday Morning Walk In An Amazing Park

/ Ally Bean

DSCN7426Just because we were in Columbus OH overnight and just because I remembered going to this park when I was a child and just because it was a gorgeous clear summer morning, we went to the Park of Roses.

Located in Clintonville inside Whetstone Park, the Park of Roses is a 13 acre garden with 11,000 rose bushes, most of which were in bloom while we were there.

The park was as amazing + colorful + beautiful as I remembered it, but what I didn’t remember was that rose scent surrounds you everywhere you walk. All the time.

Below are a few photos that give you, my gentle readers, an idea of the scope of the park and the details of the park.  Did I mention it was amazing?

• + • + •

DSCN7506

• • •

DSCN7434

• • •

DSCN7473

• • •

DSCN7482

• • •

DSCN7515

• • •

DSCN7535

• • •

DSCN7481

• • •

DSCN7453

• • •

DSCN7462

• + • + •

53 thoughts on “A Rosy Sunday Morning Walk In An Amazing Park”

    • Allie P., the Park of Roses was so vast + pretty, and nestled in a residential area which made it even more unique. I loved it. I think the idea of a park of azaleas is brilliant. Never heard of Callaway Gardens, but should we get near it, I’m visiting it.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Wow! I can’t remember ever visiting the park of roses. What a loss! We have knockout roses all along the side of our house near the front door, and in our front, side yard. They were very prolific this year. Love roses, but sometimes a little hard to care for. I can’t imagine the number of people that take care of the roses in the park! Lucky you two!

    Like

    • Beth, Z-D didn’t know about this park either. I knew of it because Mom loved it and took me there as a kid/teenager. You would adore it. I agree about the upkeep. It must take a small army of dedicated gardeners to keep the park looking as good as it did.

      Liked by 2 people

  4. WOW!!!
    I imagine the smell and I tell yuh, just pondering it makes me smile. How amazing to be able to reflect on life in such a beautiful place.
    We have the Botanical gardens here, even so, their rose garden does not compare. I’m jelly!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Oh my god, what amazing roses! I LOVE roses. I remember rose bushes in my childhood garden with smell so intoxicating I can still recollect it. When we were buying our house, I fell for roses. Who buys a house based on how many roses the garden has?! Never again. The roses are amazing! We’ve got hundreds of roses in the garden at the moment. It’s such a beautiful sight (except it’s raining mercilessly and I can’t even go out into the garden). And I’m missing that extra bedroom we could have done with! Next house – less roses more bedrooms 😀

    Like

    • Gulara, I like roses, too– and this park was beyond anything I’ve seen elsewhere. I can understand how roses hooked you into buying your current house. Of course next time you could buy the bigger house & then plant your own roses. Just a thought. Perhaps too practical… 😉

      Liked by 1 person

      • 🙂 Too unrealistic with slugs in this country. We don’t have the heart to kill them so they kill everything we planted so far. Previous owners had no problem with getting rid of them. Oh well… I love our roses. This time of the year is the best. Glad you enjoyed your visit. I remember my first visit to London. I studied the map and tracked down a rose garden. I walked miles to get there, except… there were no blooming roses. I’m embarrassed to admit, but it was January 😀 What did I expect?! Anyhow, moving swiftly on… Thank you for your gorgeous post!

        Like

  10. Lovely! I’ve known many people who’ve gone, and seen lots of photos, and now I’m questioning why I still haven’t gone! Next June, next June…I should write it down. And buy a parasol…

    Liked by 1 person

    • joey, the garden is so large, endless, colorful. It’s filled with information about each type of rose bush, if that is of interest to you. Or you can just wander and take in the positive energy. It’s cool.

      Liked by 1 person

  12. This park looks very lovely. I haven’t been to a garden park in many years. We have a very good one about 12 miles from where I live. They charge an admission, but it is well worth it as there are many types of gardens, a couple of art galleries, and other fine displays. It’s quite famous–Huntington Gardens. We had a year family pass many years ago and then never went back. I think we should return one day.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

    Like

    • Arlee, this park is free with free parking which might make it my favorite garden park ever. I’ve heard of Huntington Gardens, but not been there. It sounds like it might be time to go back for at least one visit, if only to relive how much you liked it before.

      Like

  13. Gorgeous park, Ally. There are public, formal gardens not far away from me and I love wandering through whenever possible. It feels like meditation.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. I love the fact that you said the scent of roses permeated the air. So often flowers lack smell now and I love walking into a cloud of natural floral scent. I imagined the smell as I scrolled through the photos. mmmmm 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Lovely! Reminds me of our own Lakeview Park in my hometown, now on the Historic Places registry. Its Rose Garden has been restored, and it is in much the same traditional layout, but has a mere 2500 rose bushes. There is a rose bush there in memory of my own father, a Rose Gardener Extraordinaire.

    I never had any of His luck, however, in growing my own roses. Black spot, aphids, powdery mildew, you name it. I even failed once at making rose petal jelly!

    Here is a link to Lakeview Park, for those who are interested: http://www.metroparks.cc/lakeview_park.php

    Liked by 1 person

    • nance, thank you for the link. I didn’t know about this garden and it looks like I should. How pretty! I like that a rose bush is in there for your dad. That’s a wonderful idea. My own rose growing abilities are okay. Some years we have beauty, other years it looks like a pestilence around the bushes. But ever onward go I, deluded into thinking that anything rosy looks good.

      Like

  17. Wow. A place with so many delights it would be overload. Nothing is a wonderful as a bunch of roses and all that fragrance wrapping around you. Love all the little things like that sign and the elevated iron viewing place – a Victorian “treehouse” – totally perfect for that garden.
    We had a big rose garden at Herman Park that was happily tended by the rose garden society (under city gardeners’ eyes). The park has recently been “redesigned” back to it’s very old plan, so the roses were moved. Cant wait until they are all lush and back to their elegance in their new spot. You are right – kids need the memories of vast numbers of roses. Real beauty

    Liked by 1 person

    • philmouse, this garden made an impression on me as a child. There are roses everywhere you look. Everywhere. Plus being “hidden” in a residential neighborhood, I remembered the Park of Roses even more fondly I suppose. It was a fun adventure to get there.

      [Today getting there is straightforward with multiple signs, btw.]

      I hope that the rose bushes in your redesigned park grow back quickly– and without incident. Everyone needs somewhere to go to look at roses in mass. If for no other reason than to feel what it must be like to be a happy bee with somewhere to buzz.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Stephanie, this park was free which made it even more magical. I don’t know how it is funded, but Columbus must be doing something right to have all this wonderfulness available at no charge.

      Like

  22. I absolutely love those orange ones! What an idyllic place. I love roses, although I never used to. I still wouldn’t want to try to grow them(too much work!) but I love seeing and smelling them. 🙂

    Like

    • Margaret, so many of the rose bushes were in colors I’ve never seen anywhere else. And there were so many of each bush that the colors seemed even more saturated. Just beautiful.

      Like

Comments are closed.