Knowing that I would be in Trieste, Italy for about 10 days this summer, I began web surfing to see if there were more interesting sites that I had not visited before. To my surprise, I came across an article written by landscape architect, Vladimir Vremec who described a rose garden in the Trieste district of San Giovanni begun in 2004. Located on the grounds of a former early 20th century mental asylum that now includes the current provincial Health Department, 250 rose varieties dating from 1888-1925 were planted to commemorate the Liberty or Art Noveau period. The head of the Health Department of Trieste, Dr. Franco Rotelli not only had an extensive knowledge of plants, but also was particularly interested in roses. With Vladimir Vremec, they envisioned a beautiful park with a historically important rose garden to attract visitors.
Today the new rose garden consists of 6,000 rose plants: 3,000 different varieties including 1,100 hybrid teas, 300 floribundas, 800 old and wild roses, 250 climbers and ramblers, 150 ground covers and 350 shrubs. Many rare varieties came from the late Dr. Fineschi’s collection in Cavriglia as well as from growers such as Kordes, Tantau, Barni, Delbard, Austin, Jackson & Perkins, Meilland and Weeks.
Although I visited during the peak of summer heat, there were hundreds of roses still budding and blooming in parallel rose beds with column- supported climbers lining the main walkway and edged with ornamental grasses, rosemary and other companion plants. Even the sloped banks were blanketed with ground cover roses.
Mr. Vremec kindly spent some time with my daughter Tasia and I as we strolled and admired many rare and unique rose plants. Despite the challenges of funding and staffing to transform his and Dr. Rotelli’s visions into reality, the historical breadth of rose selections are impressive and well worth the time spent here. Just steps away we dined at Il Posto delle Fragole (Wild Strawberries) for freshly made pasta and cappuccino – delizioso! To read Mr. Vremec’s article in the World Rose News, go to http://www.rosesocietyuruguay.com/index_archivos/WRNfeb2010.pdf pages 46-48.
  |
 |
Your cart
