Hopewell Park Rose Garden

"...to promote and encourage amateur and professional rose horticulture; promote the rose as a symbol of beauty and friendship; encourage our members and the general public in growing the National Floral Emblem; and educate both our members and the community at large as to the care of roses."

- The motto of the American Rose Society (ARS), the nation's oldest single-plant horticultural society, founded in 1892. Many local affiliates and chapters of the ARS take that motto to heart with the design, planting, and maintenance of a (or multiple!) public rose garden(s) in their local communities.

(A 3D rendering of Fisher's design).  

Southampton Rose Society has the Rogers Memorial Library Rose Garden in Southampton, NY, Missoula Rose Society has the Memorial Rose Garden in Missoula, MT, Nashville Rose Society has the NRS Study Garden at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens in Nashville, TN, and Denver Rose Society has the Jefferson County Detention Center Rose Garden in Golden, CO. 

There are many more examples throughout the US of rose societies growing and maintaining roses, simultaneously beautifying their communities while offering educational opportunities to the public on pest and disease identification and management, fertilizing, watering, pruning, and deadheading roses, and more. It also serves to preserve rose varieties; many gardens maintained by rose societies have rare and old varieties of roses at risk of extinction. 

Lehigh Valley Rose Society (LVRS) will join the list of rose societies with the Hopewell Park Rose Garden in Center Valley, PA.

ARS Consulting Rosarian and 2021 ARS "Rising Stars" Award Winner Nate Fisher, has designed a garden with 672 roses and 576 bulbs, annuals, and perennials in a 60' x 120' rectangular footprint, surrounded by a fence covered in climbing roses and clematis. A gazebo is at the center of the design with four arbors - one at the center of each side of the rectangle - and benches strategically placed throughout the garden. 

The site for this garden is at the center of Hopewell Park, adjacent to the pavilion and near a parking lot and restrooms - an ideal spot sure to make it the "crown jewel" of the park.


(A map of Hopewell Park).

The rose garden will be paid for (through fundraising), planted, and maintained by Lehigh Valley Rose Society as a gift to the community. This garden will not only benefit the community with beautiful sights and fragrant scents, but also serve as an educational site, a place for the public to learn about caring for roses from members of LVRS with demonstrations on disease and pest identification and management, fertilizing, watering, pruning, deadheading, and planting roses, companion planting, and more. 

In his design, Fisher has drawn inspiration from his travels to various rose gardens in the United States such as the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden at the New York Botanical Garden in Bronx, NY, the Bicentennial Rose Garden at the Norfolk Botanical Garden in Norfolk, VA, Will Radler's Rosarium in Greenfield, WI, the rose garden at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA, the Rogers Memorial Library Rose Garden in Southampton, NY, the Malcolm Gross Rose Garden in Allentown, PA, the Bethlehem Rose Garden in Bethlehem, PA, the Rudolf W. van der Goot Rose Garden in Somerset, NJ, and numerous private rose gardens of LVRS and ARS members; some of which rival the great public rose gardens!

(A closeup of the center of Hopewell Park).

Projected Timeline:
Fall 2021 - Order plants, remove sod, mark out footprint of design
Spring through Fall 2022 - Amend soil, place gazebo, install walkways, plant roses, spread mulch, fertilize and water plants throughout season, plant bulbs in fall

Spring thru Fall 2023 - install fence and arbors, finish rose plantings, plant annuals and more perennials, install signage/plaques, place benches and bricks, plant additional bulbs in fall.

Fundraising:
To pay for this project, we will be selling 250 bricks to be engraved and installed as well as plaques/signage for various structures in the garden. If you are interested in making a contribution to the project, please click on the following links: 

Fundraising Brochure 
This provides details about the different opportunities for contributing.

Brick/Plaque Order Form 
If you are interested in making your contribution via mail or email, please fill out this form. This can either be scanned and emailed to: info@lvrosesociety.org, or mailed to: Lehigh Valley Rose Society, PO Box 531, Center Valley, PA 18034. If you'd prefer to fill out this form digitally instead, visit and an invoice can either be emailed to you or you can mail in a check. Please make checks payable to: Lehigh Valley Rose Society.

Online Order Form
Please click here if you would like to make your contribution online with a credit or debit card. This option has a "Jot Form" form to fill out during the checkout process for the customization options. If you have any troubles with the form/checkout process, please feel free to reach out: info@lvrosesociety.org.

 (Another 3D rendering of Fisher's design). 

For the 2D layout and plant list, click here.