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Kansas City's municipal rose garden in Loose Park is the
realization of a dream that began in 1931, when a group of
citizens under the leadership of Laura Conyers Smith established
the Kansas City Rose Society. The first garden contained 120
rose plants. Today, there are about 3,000 roses of nearly 150
varieties in the 1.5 acre garden.
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Read
Excerpts ...from a speech given by Laura Conyers
Smith
at a meeting of the American Rose Society in Oklahoma
City in 1940) |
The rose garden has been
maintained through a partnership of the Kansas City Rose Society
and the Kansas City, Missouri, Board of Parks and Recreation
Commissioners. The Rose Society furnishes all the roses while
park employees provide ongoing care. In addition, Rose Society
members volunteer hundreds of hours each year to assist the
Loose Park staff with pruning in the garden.
The garden's circular plan
was the concept of famous landscape architect S. Herbert
Hare. In 1965 the garden was officially named the Laura Conyers
Smith Municipal Rose Garden.
Through the years, the Memory and
Friendship Rose Program where anyone can donate to the Rose
Garden on our website, has provided funds for our garden. The
Society spends around $4,000 each year for new roses and other
necessities in the garden.
To celebrate the height of the
rose season, the Rose Society annually sponsors Rose Day in the
garden on the first Sunday in June. In September, the Society
sponsors a Jazz in the Garden concert and in October, a
fund-raiser called
Wine & Roses is held in the
garden.
Every year, about 250 weddings are
held in the Rose Garden. Click Here To make a wedding
reservation, click on our Weddings
link.
In 1944, the West Garden was
dedicated to the heroes of World War II.
The new Italian stone
fountain was dedicated in 2002. This sparkling centerpiece was
made possible by generous contributions from private donors. In 2008-09, an extensive renovation of the
garden was undertaken thanks to funds raised by the Society from
public and private donors. The project included improved
drainage and irrigation systems, installation of metal edging, improvements to the north shelter, installation of an interior
circular walking path and the planting of about 1,200 new roses
in the re-defined beds.
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