LOS ALAMOS HISTORY
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Learn / Research >
      • Information For Teachers
      • Teachers and Caregivers
      • Adult Resources >
        • National History Day
        • Homestead Driving Tour
        • History at Home
        • Pioneering Women in Los Alamos >
          • Archives and Collections Technician
        • Development of the Atomic Bomb
        • Links and Resources
      • Archive >
        • About the Archive
        • Research Appointments
        • Inside the Archives
        • Share Your Stories
        • COVID-19 Collecting
    • Careers/Jobs
    • Who We Are
    • Contact
  • Plan Your Visit
    • Museum Campus
    • Museum >
      • Exhibits >
        • Online and Temporary Exhibits
      • Victory Garden
      • Explore Los Alamos
    • Tours
    • Oppenheimer House
  • Programs
    • Upcoming Events
    • Lecture Series
    • Spring 2023 Tour to Trinity
    • History Award
    • Los Alamos / Japan Project
    • Volunteer Training
  • Donate
    • Membership
    • Donate to Projects
    • Legacy Society
    • Collections Donations
    • Donate Your Time- Volunteer
  • History Blog
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Children's Books & Gifts
    • Apparel
    • Gifts

​History Blog

Memorial Rose Garden’s History In Los Alamos

3/24/2020

2 Comments

 
Picture
A small visitor enjoys the Los Alamos Memorial Rose Garden. Photo by Sharon Snyder
By SHARON SNYDER
Los Alamos Historical Society
For the first day of spring 2020, it seems appropriate to tell the story of a flower garden. Not just any flower garden, but one that has been special to Los Alamos for many years.

Since the days of the Los Alamos Ranch School there have been gardens near Fuller Lodge, adding color to a scene that is special to all of us and enjoyed by visitors from around the world.

As early as 1930, Helen Sulier, the Ranch School’s nurse, created a small flower garden near the Lodge and tended it for many years.

In addition to Sulier’s efforts, Headmaster Lawrence Hitchcock planted irises along the paths and created a strawberry patch nearby.
After World War II, a group of civic-minded individuals came together to form the Los Alamos Garden Club. Among their first efforts, these gardeners introduced rose bushes to existing flowers beds in the Community Center in the early 1950s.
In the mid 50s, the club was given a plot in what was simply called “the Center,” and that plot became their first rose garden. It added something lovely and colorful to the town’s business area.
In the 1950s, Los Alamos was still a government entity, and there was no cemetery for burials if someone died. Remains had to be placed elsewhere, so families began to donate rose bushes for planting by the Garden Club as a memorial to their loved ones. Because of these tributes, the garden began to outgrow its space.
In 1958, a site near Fuller Lodge was acquired from the Atomic Energy Commission, and a professional landscape architect was brought in to design the Los Alamos Memorial Rose Garden. The group has obtained grants through the years, and improvements have enhanced the garden.
One such addition was the installation of the Veteran’s Blue Star Historical Marker in 2017. The club donated the marker to honor men and women of the Armed Forces—past, current, and future. The gardens and the surrounding lawn have been the scene for weddings, receptions, craft fairs, concerts, and various community events.
As the garden grew in size, the workload increased for the members of the Garden Club, so, in 1968, Los Alamos County assumed responsibility for some of the maintenance.
Club members still provide guidance and care for the garden with help from the Los Alamos Parks Department.
Many rose bushes have been planted through the years and many have been replaced. The Garden Club keeps “extensive records of those who donated rose bushes in memory or in honor of family or friends, the names of the rose bushes, and where they are planted.” The Los Alamos Historical Society archive stores those records.
According to the Garden Club history, the Los Alamos Memorial Rose Garden is the oldest public garden in Los Alamos as well as being the oldest public rose garden in the state. It remains an uplifting source of beauty in our community today.
2 Comments
Michael link
9/25/2021 02:22:28 am

Great Article! Thank you for sharing this very informative post, and looking forward to the latest one.

Reply
Dustin link
12/11/2022 11:21:41 pm

Excellent article! Thank you for your excellent post, and I look forward to the next one. If you're seeking for discount codes and offers, go to couponplusdeals.com.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    About

    These articles are written by the Los Alamos Historical Society Staff. Many of these articles were originally published by the
    ​Los Alamos Daily Post.  

    Categories

    All
    Ancestral Pueblo
    Archives
    Ashley Pond Jr.
    Atomic Energy Commission
    Bathtub Row
    Bathtub Row Press
    Bohr
    Camp May
    Cold War
    Community
    Dog
    Fallout Shelter
    Fuller Lodge
    Gardening
    Hans Bethe
    Helene Suydam
    Homer Pickens
    Homesteading
    Interns
    Jennet Conant
    John Saw Meem
    Katherine Stinson
    Los Alamos Ranch School
    Manhattan Project
    Martini
    Movie
    Museum
    Oppenheimer
    Pajarito Club
    Peggy Pond Church
    Pierottis' Clowns
    Raemer Schrieber
    Rose Garden
    Rover Project
    Severo Gonzales
    Sig Hecker
    Stan Ulam
    Trinity
    Walking Tour
    Women's Army Corp (WAC)
    World War II

    Archives

    March 2023
    November 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    November 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017

Home
About
Contact
Plan Your Visit
Shop
​Events
The Los Alamos Historical Society preserves, promotes, and communicates the remarkable history and inspiring stories of Los Alamos and its people for our community, for the global audience, and for future generations. 
Become a Member!
Los Alamos History Museum Logo
Picture
Picture
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Learn / Research >
      • Information For Teachers
      • Teachers and Caregivers
      • Adult Resources >
        • National History Day
        • Homestead Driving Tour
        • History at Home
        • Pioneering Women in Los Alamos >
          • Archives and Collections Technician
        • Development of the Atomic Bomb
        • Links and Resources
      • Archive >
        • About the Archive
        • Research Appointments
        • Inside the Archives
        • Share Your Stories
        • COVID-19 Collecting
    • Careers/Jobs
    • Who We Are
    • Contact
  • Plan Your Visit
    • Museum Campus
    • Museum >
      • Exhibits >
        • Online and Temporary Exhibits
      • Victory Garden
      • Explore Los Alamos
    • Tours
    • Oppenheimer House
  • Programs
    • Upcoming Events
    • Lecture Series
    • Spring 2023 Tour to Trinity
    • History Award
    • Los Alamos / Japan Project
    • Volunteer Training
  • Donate
    • Membership
    • Donate to Projects
    • Legacy Society
    • Collections Donations
    • Donate Your Time- Volunteer
  • History Blog
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Children's Books & Gifts
    • Apparel
    • Gifts