History

In January, 1944, the city of Columbus purchased 149 acres which are today the site
of Whetstone Park. Used by local residents for victory gardens during WWII, the fields became the recreational park the Clintonville Community Council wanted in their neighborhood. In 1948, parts of the area were cleared, graded and planted, leaving
the ravine and banks of the Olentangy river in their natural states. The name Whetstone Park was adopted in 1949, in reference to whetstones early settlers collected from the
river bed.

The Columbus Rose Club and Central Ohio Rose Society had long dreamed of a municipal rose garden for Columbus. The American Rose Society wanted to move from its Pennsylvania location to one more centrally located to its national membership and close to an agricultural college. Columbus fit both criteria and a match was made.

Main Garden

In April, 1952, a Columbus ordinance and bond issues were passed for the construction of a Park of Roses, to be located within Whetstone Park. Construction began in June and final plantings were made in early 1953. The Park opened to the public on June 6 and a formal dedication was held on September 13.

During the Park’s first year, a national rose show and convention were held in Columbus. The ARS moved its headquarters to a building within the Park of Roses in 1954. However, two back to back severe winters–1966 and 1967– with late freezes led the American Rose Society to move again, this time to Louisiana.

Heritage Garden

After the ARS left in 1974, The Rose Foundation developed the idea to turn their now vacant test beds into a Heritage Garden, which would showcase the “old roses,” focusing on those under cultivation before 1867, the date generally accepted as the beginning of “modern” roses. Some of the old roses were already lost from commerce and assembling
a representative group proved a difficult task. The Heritage Garden was dedicated in 1986, and helped to spark a rebirth of interest in old roses among the gardening public. Many of these roses are now commercially available for home gardens.

Earth-Kind Garden

In 2007, the Rose Foundation, in partnership with Columbus Recreation & Parks, was
instrumental in creating the northernmost Earth-Kind rose garden in the United States.
Its purpose is to test winter hardiness of roses previously identified as fitting the Earth-Kind profile of very self-sufficient plants. The Earth-Kind concept requires only minimal maintenance for roses and encourages mixed plantings with shrubs. This public demonstration garden is planted on the site of an old daffodil garden in the Park of Roses.