Log in

Celebration

Mesa Community College celebrates 25th anniversary of Rose Garden

Partnership with Rose Society, volunteers thrives

Posted 1/27/23

A celebration was held in December commemorating the 25th anniversary of The Rose Garden at Mesa Community College, 1833 W. Southern Ave.

Attending the event were Mesa City Council members; …

You must be a member to read this story.

Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.


Already have an account? Log in to continue.

Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here

Otherwise, follow the link below to join.

To Our Valued Readers –

Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.

For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.

Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.

Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.

Sincerely,
Charlene Bisson, Publisher, Independent Newsmedia

Please log in to continue

Log in
I am anchor
Celebration

Mesa Community College celebrates 25th anniversary of Rose Garden

Partnership with Rose Society, volunteers thrives

Posted

A celebration was held in December commemorating the 25th anniversary of The Rose Garden at Mesa Community College, 1833 W. Southern Ave.

Attending the event were Mesa City Council members; leaders, faculty and staff of Mesa Community College; and officers and volunteers from the American Rose Society and the Mesa-East Valley Rose Society, according to a release.

Those sharing their memories of the establishment of the Rose Garden included Dr. Larry Christensen, former president of MCC; Jared Langkilde, former director of the Rose Garden and current president/CEO of the HonorHealth Foundation; Peter Conden, Rose Garden executive director; and LeRoy Brady, Rose Garden architect.

During the ceremony, Dr. Tammy Robinson, MCC president, applauded the collaboration forged with the rose societies and community volunteers to create such a stunning welcome to campus with the invitation to “Come. Enjoy. Thrive.” More than a conservatory, the Rose Garden is a living lab for kindergarten through college students studying biology, botany, and horticulture as well as the artists who come to paint and create works inspired by nature.

President Robinson also pointed out that The Rose Garden brings global acclaim to the city of Mesa and Mesa Community College with rankings among the Best Things to Do in Mesa by sites such as the Canadian adventure travel Treksplorer, Tripadvisors, Vacation Ideas magazine, Yelp and the Japanese travel site Trip 101.

Diana Sommers, American Rose Society president, spoke of the long and colorful history of roses. Fossils of the flower 35 million years old have been found in Europe. Millions of dollars are spent annually on research, growing and selling roses in the U.S. Arizona produces more than 75% of the country’s rose bushes because its climate allows them to bloom for nearly eight out of 12 months. In 2000, the Rose Garden at Mesa Community College was approved by the All-America Rose Selections organization to become one of 26 test gardens, becoming one of the top three AARS Test Gardens in the nation.

On behalf of MCC, Tanya Smith, administrative associate coordinator in the MCC executive office, accepted from the American Rose Society a Presidential Citation given to the Rose Garden “In appreciation and celebration of your supporting roses for 25 years with the largest garden in the Desert Southwest.”

Conden, also co-director of the MCC Arboretum, recognized volunteers who helped found and continue to cultivate the Rose Garden. Among those acknowledged for their service were Helen Baird, LeRoy Brady, Marylou Coffman, Carole Holkenbrink, Mike Jepsen and Steve Sheard. He also acknowledged Mike Cryer for his work as the volunteer coordinator for nearly two decades.

The celebration finale included the presentation of a plaque commemorating the 25th anniversary and speakers and dignitaries joining MCC President Robinson for the cake cutting.

Open to the public, the best months to visit the Rose Garden are April through June and October through December when the roses are in full bloom. The largest public rose garden in the Desert Southwest, the Rose Garden is part of MCC’s 140-acre arboretum, the first in Arizona to earn accreditation from the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and The Morton Arboretum. MCC is the only community college in Arizona to be named a Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation.

Learn more at mesacc.edu/rosegarden.