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Renting This Park
You can reserve a facility and/or sports field at this park. Learn how to rent a picnic area, community center, wedding area, or other facility. Learn how to reserve a time slot at a sports field or court.
Berkeley’s Historic Rose Garden is a regional destination with its 1,500 rose bushes and 250 varieties of roses, along with breathtaking views of the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Features
- Gazebo
- Picnic Area
- Restroom
- Wheelchair Accessible
Sports Fields
- Tennis Court
The Berkeley Rose Garden was one of the first Civil Works Progress Projects built under the Works Progress Administration (WPA). It was conceived in 1933 and completed and dedicated for public use in September 1937. East Bay rose societies and community members donated hundreds of hours of volunteer time. The terraced amphitheater and 220-foot-long redwood pergola were suggested by architect Bernard Maybeck; the final design and execution were the work of landscape architect Vernon M. Dean and rose specialist C. V. Covell.
For many years, the Parks Department held Rose Week activities in the garden each May, with a Rose Day Celebration on Mother’s Day (the Mother’s Day event was resurrected in 2001 as a joint project of the City of Berkeley and the Friends of the Berkeley Rose Garden). Traditionally, the annual winners of the All-American Rose Society were planted at the garden; other rose varieties were supplied by growers from all over the world.
The Friends of the Berkeley Rose Garden has been very active over the past decade in restoring key historical features and improving accessibility to the garden. Working in partnership with City gardeners, the Friends continue to play a key role in improvements to the garden. The construction of a new entry and overlook on Euclid Avenue sparked new interest in the park. In response to the growing depletion of roses by hungry deer, a perimeter fence was erected in the late 1990s.
The Berkeley Rose Garden is considered by many to be the finest rose garden in northern California. The roses are pruned in January in preparation for mid-May, when the garden is in its most spectacular state.
The City's Rosarian is looking for volunteers to assist with maintaining the beauty of the Berkeley Rose Garden. For more details, contact our Rosarian, Miguel Cortes at mcortes@cityofberkeley.info.