Hamann Rose Garden now open
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By KATHRYN CATES MOORE/Lincoln Journal Star
Last spring, when it was time to plant the bare-root roses for Lincoln’s new rose garden, it rained. And rained. And rained again.
Finally, when planting the roses seemed impossible, the city’s gardening team potted up each one and waited.
They waited until the sweetly scented bushes took root in the pots. Until the ground dried out and beds were ready.
This summer, in a better-late-than-never scenario, the roses went in. And they have thrived.
During Sunday’s grand opening of the newly renovated and greatly expanded Hamann Rose Garden at Antelope Park, those roses and hundreds of others took center stage.
This new, bigger and better rose garden has a history that dates back to the 1940s.
In 1945, roses were planted there as Nebraska’s first test garden. Later, it was redesigned by landscape architect Ernst Herminghaus. Pioneers Park’s design was his handiwork, too.
During the 1980s, the rose garden was expanded with roses from the Woods Park Rose Garden.
Roses, it seems, are a passion in this city, and they never go out of style.
Don Hamann’s love affair with roses led him to kick off the fundraising for this project with a $100,000 donation.
“I wanted to make sure this thing took off,” he said of the renovation. Hamann knew there were problems with the infrastructure and vandalism. Making it more accessible and adding long-term maintenance made sense, he said.
Hamann is a rosarian. He can’t get enough of these plants that have prickly thorns and beautiful blooms. “They react differently under different conditions,” he said. “That’s the thing — they are interesting.”
Hybrid Teas, Floribundas and Grandiflora roses and the sturdy shrub and climbing varieties — look hard and there is a good chance you can find them among the hundreds at this rose garden.
Variety is exactly the point, said Lynn Johnson, director of Lincoln’s Park and Recreation Department.
A list was developed, with input from the Lincoln Rose Society, Parks Department landscape architect Mark Canney and Steve Nosal and Alice Reed, city garden designers.
The hardiest of the lot were placed in the strolling garden area, where they are paired with perennials and grasses, Canney said.
Planted last fall, the half-acre has a more contemporary feel and was designed as a learning garden, said Johnson.
The walkways are wide and the plants are clearly marked so you can see how a certain perennial looks with a specific shrub rose.
No fungicides or herbicides will be used here. They are low maintenance, Nosal said. “If these varieties don’t work, we’ll throw them out and find some that do,” he said of this part of the garden.
The strolling garden is dotted with white iron globes. At one end is a brick paver labyrinth laid out in the form of a rose and planted in the grass.
Both the strolling and formal gardens were inspired by the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods, Canney said. One side is full of symmetrical geometric forms, the other with curves and dynamic forms.
They are as distinct as a Double Knockout rose and Miss All American Beauty.
A fountain surrounded by rose tiles, designed by Su Harvey, with a bronze sculpture in the middle is the focal point of the formal garden.
The fountain, “Joy,” cast from an original by Edith Barretto Parsons, was donated by Walt Canney to honor his wife, Louella. Keeping the secret for almost a year from his mother was difficult, said Mark Canney.
“Both personally and professionally, it’s my favorite part of the renovation,” he said.
Six-foot wide beds of roses, containing more than 1,000 roses, surround the centerpiece.
Johnson’s favorite area, a formal knot garden, is also there. A previous rose garden design also had a knot garden, he said.
Entry to the garden is through rose-themed gates made by metal designer Jake Balcom.
Donations for specific beds and benches helped fund the entire project, Johnson said.
In fact, $350,000 from the public and lots of plant materials from local nurseries helped the garden project be completed during times of economic restraint, Johnson said. The plan even included maintenance funds.
Johnson believes the rose garden is the second gem on 27th Street. The first, of course, is Sunken Gardens, directly across the street, he said.
And the jewels of this one are made of silky scented petals.
Reach Kathryn Cates Moore at 473-7214 or kmoore@journalstar.com.
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