The Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden, often called the Balboa Park rose garden, was just a dream in the head of Dick Streeper when he was elected president of the San Diego Rose Society in 1969. He worked with older rosarians, such as Jean Kenneally and Jim Kirk, to launch a rose garden in the city sometimes referred to by our locals as the perfect place to grow roses, but where a public rose garden did not exist at that time. There had been two previous rose gardens in Balboa Park, but by the late sixties there was little left of the original plantings. By 1973, the city council was ready to choose a site and the Parker Foundation supported the project financially. Several rose producing businesses donated the roses for the initial planting and the members of the San Diego Rose Society potted them up while the walks, raised beds and irrigation system were being made ready. By 1975, the garden was well established and it was dedicated during the American Rose Society convention held in San Diego that year.

There were 1200 plants of 83 varieties in the original planting. The beds are designated S (south), C (central), and N (north) to identify them conveniently. The garden was enlarged during the 1980s and 1990s when the construction of new downtown buildings needed a place to discard soil and nearby Florida Canyon turned out to be the ideal place. The gazebo, which had been a half circle, now became a full circle and beds were added on the east side of the garden. With this addition, the garden was expanded to 1699 plants of 131 varieties. Those beds are labeled N-9 through N-12. In addition, David Austin English Roses were planted overlooking the canyon in Beds N-11 and S-3. The irrigation system was upgraded in January 2013 with funding from the Balboa Park Trust, administered by the San Diego Foundation. The mission of this foundation is to improve the quality of life in all of our communities by providing leadership for effective philanthropy. Many local residents visit the rose garden frequently, aided by the wide walkways which make it accessible to strollers and wheelchairs. Tourists are unfailingly complimentary as they visit the display which is in color from March through November. Many weddings are scheduled in the rose garden. The San Diego City park staff is aided in maintenance by the Rose Garden Corps (RGC), a group of about 45 volunteers who work Tuesdays and Thursdays to keep the garden tidy and healthy. Their tasks include removing spent blooms, picking up petals and leaves, fertilizing, replacing plants, supplying labels and supplementary watering as needed. Every year on the second Saturday of January, the San Diego Rose Society holds a pruning demonstration to educate the public about proper techniques of rose care. Often, there are hundreds of attendees who are there to learn. The Rose Garden Corps and the Park and Recreation Department staff then finish pruning all of the roses. The first bloom in late March to early April is especially spectacular. Written by Sue Streeper, Master Rosarian, San Diego Rose Society.

A brief history

Balboa Park is home to an award-winning rose garden, free and open to the public year-round. The Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden is situated on the eastern edge of Balboa Park’s Central Mesa, along Park Boulevard. It was built in segments, beginning in 1973, and has been recognized multiple times for its beauty. Nationally honored as the outstanding rose garden by All-America Rose Selections in 1978. Given the “Award of Garden Excellence” by the World Federation of Rose Societies in 2003. Inducted into the Great Rosarians of the World (GROW) Hall of Fame in 2014 [1]. You don’t have to be a rose expert to recognize that these are top awards. The Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden is a national champion, world champion, and hall of famer all in one. Balboa Park as we know it started taking shape in the 1890s and early 1900s with the work of Kate Sessions and George Marston. Despite the Park’s ample space, none of its rose gardens “stuck” and by the 1960s a new one was just a dream. This lack was pronounced in a place like San Diego, with its wonderful climate for growing just about anything. Dick Streeper, former president of the San Diego Rose Society, wrote about this specific irony in late 1975. Most rose growers in San Diego believe that this is the most favored place in America for the growing of the world’s most favored plant – the rose. We have an even and temperate climate which produces an abundance of growth… problems of other areas such as blackspot and Japanese beetle are little known here. We have a large and active rose society which stages the West’s largest rose show each year. Considering these facts, it seems surprising that San Diego has not had a major public rose garden [2]. The absence of a rose garden was even more odd since [Southern California] hybridizers had recently produced new varieties with more vigor, disease-resistance, beautiful foliage, and graceful flower buds [3]. Streeper ran into obstacles from the beginning. I proposed we launch an effort for a municipal rose garden at my first board meeting, and everyone told me that it had been tried and wouldn’t work. January of the following year, I became the Rose Society president, and at the first meeting the membership adopted a resolution supporting the establishment of a municipal rose garden [4]. Thankfully for us, Streeper, and fellow rosarians Jean Kenneally and Jim Kirk, received the support of Jim Milch, then chairman of the Park and Recreation Board, and Vince Marchetti, project officer for Park and Recreation. According to Streeper, Milch was responsible for helping match the rose garden project with a donor. [He] told me the Parker Foundation was interested in paying for the replanting of the palm trees on 6th Avenue, and he could help redirect that to roses. We had a meeting and they agreed to supply matching funds [5]. Funding was provided by The Parker Foundation, which donated “a major amount of money to establish a rose garden”, according to an article written by Streeper for California Garden magazine [6]. And the Parker Foundation brings us to Inez Grant Parker. If you’re like me, you wonder who she was and if she was a special lover of roses. She and her husband, Gerald T. Parker, were philanthropists from the Midwest. She was born in Oswego, Kansas on June 26, 1887. The two eventually moved to San Diego. The Parkers supported the Boy Scouts, San Diego Museum of Art and Northwest Family YMCA. In 1971, Mrs. Parker established the Parker Foundation. When she passed away a year later, her remaining estate was transferred to the Foundation “to institutionalize [the Parkers’] devotion to the community in perpetuity” [7]. And all that value went to the Foundation in 1972. That was the same time Dick Streeper and the San Diego Rose Society were working with San Diego Parks and Rec to finalize plans for a rose garden in Balboa Park. One of the reasons I’ve enjoyed writing this story is the reminder that beautiful parks and gardens don’t just come out of nowhere. They’re not just sitting there waiting for three benches and a gazebo. That part is easy for me to forget since nature does the heavy lifting. Provides oxygen, sunlight, water, symbiotic relationships, etc. But to work with nature so that people can enjoy a qualitatively new experience takes vision. Having vision takes a combination of talent, skill, inspiration and a lot of previous perspiration. And this was a very public vision. Led by Dick Streeper, rosarians at the San Diego Rose Society pursued a vision that could be visited by millions of people every year. Streeper was involved in every facet of the planning and had to be flexible, patient, and able to muster others’ best efforts and resources. ‘It took us another four years because at that point we didn’t have a master plan. Also, the eastern portion of the rose garden was built mostly on landfill from the high rise buildings from downtown San Diego, which had to settle for a couple of years before anything could be planted. The Rose Society and rose industry, under my direction, have since donated and supplied virtually all of the roses’ [8]. And just getting approval for the garden took planning and effort. The Parker Foundation, San Diego Rose Society, City of San Diego and others collaborated to make the garden a reality. Excerpt written by Jim Stephens.

References San Diego Rose Society, Richard Streeper, San Diego’s Rose Garden, California Garden, Vol. 67, No. 1, January-February 1976, p. 9., Marianne Truby, Balboa Park Rose Garden, California Garden, Vol. 85, No. 1, January-February 1994, p.9., Sarah Smith, Garden Conversations: Dick Streeper, California Garden, Vol. 101, No.1, January-February 2010, p.23. Sarah Smith, Garden Conversations: Dick Streeper, p.23., Richard Streeper, San Diego’s Rose Garden, p. 9., Sarah Smith, Garden Conversations: Dick Streeper, p.23.

Who is Dick Streeper?

Richard “Dick” Streeper (1932-2014) was known as a super hero of rose horticulture. He was a visionary leader, he created the Rose Garden Corps to help maintain the Balboa Park Rose Garden, he was a rose columnist in the San Diego Union-Tribune for 20 years (known as “The Rose Man”), and he was an award-winning rosarian. Dick Streeper was president of the San Diego Rose Society in 1969 and he developed many activities which became traditions: pilgrimages to various rose-related sites (e.g. The Huntington Library rose gardens, Rose Hills test garden, private home gardens, wineries, nurseries, and the Old City Cemetery in Sacramento, CA), he built a garden at the San Diego County Fair, and he organized pruning demonstrations each January at the Balboa Park Rose Garden. Dick Streeper received the Bronze Honor Medal, the highest honor in the San Diego Rose Society for his outstanding service and contributions. Dick Streeper also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Rose Society for 12 years. He was awarded many of the highest honors including: the Silver Honor Medal (1997), Outstanding Consulting Rosarian (1980), Outstanding Judge (2004), and the ARS Klima Medal (2004) which was a lifetime achievement award established to recognize the highest levels of excellence in the field of horticulture education for roses.

Photos from the first rose garden at Balboa Park

How to Volunteer at the Balboa Park Rose Garden

Join the Rose Garden Corps!
Volunteers work once per week, either Tuesday or Thursday morning from 9am to 12pm (your choice), starting in March and continuing through November.
There is a once a month meeting on the 3rd Tuesday at 9:15am.
Prior rose care knowledge is not required. Age requirement is 18 yrs or older. You will be partnered with an instructor for training sessions in deadheading, cleaning out rose beds, pruning, and care of different types of roses. Then you will be assigned to a specific section and share projects with other volunteers.

Interested in volunteering?
Fill out this form for more info.