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Find out what you can see at Cleveland Botanical Garden
Exploring the Gardens
Cleveland Botanical Garden brings new attractions to enhance its existing beauty.
A Kaleidoscope of Colors in the Rose Garden
As the second-oldest garden at Cleveland Botanical Garden, the Mary Ann Sears Swetland Rose Garden has welcomed generations of visitors who have walked its paths and admired the many varieties of roses flanking its octangular beds. Now, an exciting redesign will welcome guests with a kaleidoscopic swirl of colors.
The Rose Garden, established in 1971 (two years after the Western Reserve Herb Garden), has always been a visitor favorite, but sometimes it presents a horticultural challenge.
During its earliest days, this coveted refuge of beauty consisted primarily of highmaintenance hybrid tea roses peppered with a few grandifloras and floribundas, some of which were off-market cultivars being trialed at the time. In 1996, the garden received a facelift during which most hybrid teas were removed and replaced with less fussy floribunda and grandiflora roses. A second revision of the plant palette in 2007 incorporated hardy shrub and rugosa roses, showcasing roses suitable for challenging spaces. Management Policy with each plant playing a valued role in story-telling. Be that conservation, or geographic, or pure beauty. For this she liaised closely with Tom Arbour, curator of Living Collections.
Rose Garden Renovation spatial layout plan
Now, we are excited to announce a redesign of this classic garden space that will predominantly feature diseaseresistant floribunda roses, a classification of roses known for their perpetually blooming flowers and superb disease resistance, among other fine attributes. The redesign reflects the hard work of our Horticulture team and especially the skill and innate artistic talent of Rose Garden Horticulturist Stefanie Verish.
Stefanie was tasked with gathering a wealth of information which would influence her design: historical details, soil composition, current accession status, hard-landscaping assessment, educational and event rental use to name just a few. Fundamental to all HF&G garden designs is that it reflects our Collections
~ Stefanie Verish, Rose Garden Horticulturist
Reviewing design iterations together with Caroline Tait, vp of horticulture & collections and myself, Stefanie landed on the design you will see implemented!
These new varieties will be in harmonious companionship with complementary herbaceous and woody plantings arranged in a true art form — the space will take on a perspective never seen before in its 51-year history! Breaking the traditional mold of the quintessential rose garden, a kaleidoscope swirl of rainbow colors will whirl you around the transformed space, where you’ll meet some of the highestrated roses by the American Rose Society, sourced from across North America.
There is something wonderfully alluring about a rose garden, whether it’s the intoxicating perfumes that permeate the air or their impeccable beauty representing nearly every possible hue of the color wheel. And roses can trigger olfactory responses or smell memories, in which a single redolent rose may elicit recollections that may remind you of your wedding day, a meritorious life achievement or other impressionable moments.
Be sure to regularly visit the newly redesigned Sears Swetland Rose Garden at Cleveland Botanical Garden as design elements are installed, and make your own memories by stopping to smell the roses.
work performed by Jacob “Jake” Conrad, HF&G’s new Climbing Arborist.
The warm, moist conditions in the biome create optimal year-round growing conditions for plants that have a penchant for quickly reaching for light at the top of the biome. Maintenance of these specimens by our Arboricultural team and Glasshouse Horticulturist Sadie Smith is paramount to ensure they do not interfere with the mechanical systems of the biome and to ensure the plants below have ample light to grow. In addition to this important pruning work, we are excited to unveil new nectar pots for our butterflies. These pots will be peppered around the Costa Rica biome and filled with plants that will act as safe harbors and food sources for the hundreds of butterflies that call our biome home.
The Horticulture team at Cleveland Botanical Garden is thrilled to provide these enhanced experiences to our valued members and guests, and we look forward to seeing you very soon during your next visit!
Busy in the Biomes
While “breaking the glass ceiling” may be desirable in a workplace context, it wouldn’t be a good thing in the Costa Rica Cloud Forest Biome in our Eleanor Armstrong Smith Glasshouse. That’s why over the summer several of our most mature neotropical trees received precision pruning
Jake climbing Cecropia in Costa Rica
MEET THE STAFF
Andrew C. Pratt is the Director of Gardens & Glasshouses at the Garden campus. He previously served as a Horticulture Intern at the Arboretum (2001) and Grounds Manager (2006-2012) of Cleveland Botanical Garden and was the Director of Fellows Riverside Gardens before assuming his current role. Andy has over 26 years of experience working with plants, animals, and people and holds a Bachelor’s of Horticulture from The Ohio State University, a Master’s of Biology from Miami University, and is a Certified Arborist.
