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History of the Cranford Rose Garden
Cranford Rose Garden, seen from the Overlook. (Photo by Louis Buhle on Rose Garden Day, June 9, 1936.)
In June 1928, the Cranford Rose Garden celebrated the grand opening of what has become one of the largest and finest rose gardens in this country. It was designed by Harold Caparn, a landscape architect for Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and Montague Free, the Garden's horticulturist. Caparn had drawn the plans several years earlier, at the request of Stuart Gager, the first director of BBG.
Although the new hybrid teas were popular in the early part of the century when Harold Caparn began planning the rose garden, Caparn was more fond of wild roses and those known before the creation of the hybrid teas. He felt that while the blooms of the new roses were spectacular, their foliage had a weedy appearance and they were difficult to use in landscapes. So he designed a garden of modern roses framed by their ancestors, the more graceful species and old garden roses. However, the Garden's plan for a public rose garden remained unrealized for several years.
In 1927, Walter V. Cranford, a construction engineer whose firm built many of Brooklyn's subway tunnels, read in Brooklyn Botanic Garden's annual report that a rose garden was planned at the estimated cost of $10,000. Cranford donated the entire sum, and construction began on June 14, 1927, four days after Cranford's check was received. Excavation revealed an old cobblestone road two feet below the surface and tons of glacial rock, which had to be carted away on horse-drawn barges. These unforeseen obstacles added to the garden's cost, and in October 1927, when Cranford visited the site, he donated another $5,000 to complete the project.
By November, the garden was complete, rose plants were donated by various nurseries, and 1,000 rosebushes were planted by the Garden's first rosarian, Charles McGinley. In the spring of 1928, 2,000 more rosebushes were added—650 different species and varieties in all. On June 24, 1928, the first annual Rose Day was celebrated. Many of the original plants installed in 1927 are still in the garden today.
The garden covers approximately one acre of land enclosed by a white lattice fence. Near the southern gate are planted the eglantines, known for their apple-scented foliage. These and other species roses provide a backdrop for the old garden roses. Gallicas, damasks, centifolias, mosses, and albas are planted in the side beds, creating an informal look. Toward the south end of the Cranford Rose Garden is a latticework pavilion that is slightly elevated so visitors can view the entire garden—not only the plantings to the south but also the 15 rectangular beds of roses north of the structure.
In Caparn's original design, the 15 rectangular beds illustrated the gradual development of the modern rose, including teas, Chinas, Bourbons, and Noisettes, followed by modern roses in chronological order of their development, starting with 'La France'. In the garden's first year, this innovative concept was realized, but during the first winter, nearly all of the teas, Chinas, and early hybrid teas died because of their poor resistance to Brooklyn's cold climate.
Over successive seasons, many more hybrid teas died and could not be replaced, so the plan of showing roses in chronological order was abandoned. Instead, only hardier hybrid teas were displayed in the central beds, and the remaining teas, Chinas, Noisettes, and Bourbons, which have a more carefree growth habit, were moved to the side beds with the other old garden roses. During the 1930s, most of the hybrid perpetuals were also moved to the old garden rose beds; the floribundas and hybrid polyanthas that were then coming into vogue replaced them in the center beds. It was during this time that All-America Rose Selections was established, and the Cranford Rose Garden was designated as an AARS Display Garden.
Upon Cranford's death in 1935, his widow donated another $5,000 to build the Rose Arc, an addition to the southern end of the garden. It is separate from the main garden and features a semicircular pool surrounded by 'Knockout', a modern shrub rose. Three beds of ramblers and modern roses serve as a backdrop.
Originally, a Doric pergola completed the enclosure of the Cranford Rose Garden on the north, but this was not replaced after it blew over in a storm in 1938. The walk around the entire rose garden was originally covered with bluestone chips, which visiting schoolchildren found very attractive for throwing. In the summer of 1958 a brick walk was built.
In 1980, the Cranford Rose Garden was the recipient of the Distinguished Public Rose Garden Award, sponsored by AARS, for "contributing to the public interest in rose growing through its efforts in maintaining an outstanding public rose garden." In 1985, plantings of miniature roses were added, and in 1990 the latticework fencing surrounding the garden and the pergola were restored. In 1992 a soil-restoration program was begun. This involved the removal of all soil and plants from the 15 center beds. A new soil mix composed of 60% sandy topsoil, 30% organic matter (manure, leaf compost), and 10% sand was added to the beds, as well as new plants. All of the rare roses were saved and replanted in the collection. The soil restoration was completed in 1996.