Address
Directions
Roseway Road between Dupont Ave. S.and the Parkway
Phone
Fax
Run by
Minneapolis Parks and Recreation
Date Established
Designer
Size
Cost
No admission fee
Peak Season
Peak season (notes)
Late June to late September
Region
Garden Type
Extras
- Free street parking and a fee parking lot nearby
- Restrooms near the bird sanctuary and parking lot
- Accessible
- Bird watching – Thomas Sadler Roberts Bird Sanctuary is adjacent
- Hiking – walking paths around Lake Harriet
- Biking – biking paths around Lake Harriet
- Weddings can be arranged in the garden
Comments
This rose garden is the second oldest public rose garden in the U.S. It was designed by Theodore Wirth while he was superintendent of the Minneapolis Parks System. He designed the first public rose garden in the U.S. while head of Connecticut’s Park System. The garden layout has not changed since its initial planting in the spring of 1908 with 62 rectangular plots in its central section planted with hybrid tea and grandiflora roses. The outside fence is lined with floribundas, old fashioned and shrub roses. There are over 3,000 roses of over 250 varieties on display, with naming signage. During its peak season, the garden can contain about 60,000 blooms. The garden was chosen as the northern most of All American rose selection test garden’s in 1946. This is a wonderful place to view and evaluate different rose cultivars. At the uppermost end of the garden, which slopes up from Lake Harriet, is the Heffelfinger Fountain, a bronze and marble sculpture imported from Italy.
