[Originally posted in the Sandbox forum, Garden Buddies Say Hello thread]
On Saturday, August 28th we visited the Reinisch Rose Garden, in Topeka's Gage Park. We arrived about 3:00 PM, which was a mistake, since temperatures were in the mid-90s F. We would walk for 20 minutes of so, then find a bench and rest for a few minutes before going on.
It had been a few years since our last visit, and a few things had changed. It does not look like the garden is testing new roses like it did a decade or so ago, and a few of the fixtures have been allowed to run down, and need major repairs. The roses, though are as good as they have always been. Older, once-blooming varieties are planted around the outer edge of the garden. I was surprised to see a few China roses, which I had thought were much too tender for a Kansas winter. Most of the garden, though is divided into a series of large beds (10 x 30 ft?), each planted to a single variety of rose.
A few photos to show our approach. The little train has been a favorite of Topeka children and their parents for decades. The street near the rose garden is lined with gigantic pin oak trees.
A few photos for scale:
There was an interesting mixed display of cannas, celosias, and coreopsis in large pots at another entrance to the garden:
Some roses that caught our eyes:
Lady Elsie May (AARS 2005)
Day Breajer (AARS 2004)
Elle (AARS 2005)
Erfurt (Hybrid Musk, 1939) still had a few blooms, but stood out for the number of hips it was carrying
Easter Basket (Floribunda, 2007)
Preference (Floribunda, introduced 2004)
And I did not catch the label on this one:
The rose beds are arranged around a central lily pool, which still had a few blooms.
