The gates of the Municipal Rose Garden of Rome they opened, this year ten days early. From11th April, until the 14nd June can be visited for freeThe Rose Garden is home to over 1.100 varieties of roses from every continent, from New Zealand to the United States, along with wild botanical species that have existed for millions of years. It is open daily from 8:30 am to 19:30 pm. The entrance is at Via di Valle Murcia 6, opposite the Circus Maximus.
It is one of those places in Rome that are not talked about much in the guidebooks, and that the Romans themselves prefer to visit mid-morning or late afternoon, and there is a history that most visitors do not know.
For nearly three centuries, from 1645 al 1934, that same slope had been the Jewish cemetery of the Community of RomeWhen the master plan of the 1930s decided to transform the area into a public park, the authorities carefully transferred the eight thousand bodies that rested there to Verano. 1950, the Municipality chose to make it a rose garden, to replace the original one on Colle Oppio, destroyed during the war, and wanted to leave a silent tribute to the dead who had inhabited it for centuries. The paths of the "collection" area were designed in the shape of a menorah, the seven-branched candelabra, symbol of Judaism. It's only visible from above, from a drone, or from a satellite photo, but it's there. Walking among the roses, in practice, means walking through a candelabra.
Another curiosity concerns the origin of the municipal rose garden of Rome. It was wanted by Mary Gayley Senni, an American countess married to the Italian nobleman Giulio Senni. After their wedding in New York in 1907, she moved to the family estate in Grottaferrata. In love with gardening, during a trip to Paris she visited the famous Rose Garden of Bagatelle. She returned to Italy with a fixed idea: Rome had to have her own. She convinced the city governor to establish the collection in 1932. In May of 1933 he founded the Rome Award for New Rose VarietiesThis prize is, today, the second oldest in the world, second only to the French Bagatelle Prize. The Rome Prize still exists and this year has reached its 84 edition.
The international jury met on May 16th and 17th to evaluate the new competing varieties, and starting Monday, May 18th, the competition area is open to the public. Visitors can admire the newly awarded roses up close, some of which will not be released to the global market until 2027.
One last kind note: to protect the roses from parasites, every spring the Rose Garden releases ladybugs and other antagonistic insectsNo pesticides.
