Renziehausen Park Rose Garden

The Renziehausen Park Rose Garden in McKeesport is dazzling! We've been to many public rose gardens, some where the garden itself was much fancier, with elaborate fountains, sculptures, etc. But none with a more extensive variety of roses. There are over 2000!

Creating a new variety of rose must be a labor of love. It's clear from wandering around this rose garden that everyone's notion of the ideal rose must be very different. They make the generic, long stemmed red rose from the florist shop seem positively dull. For a garden full of flowers, it's pretty quiet, without the drone of bees at work. Many roses are cultivated to have tightly folded petals, which  make life pretty difficult for a bee intent on reaching its nectar in the center of the flower. Also they are designed with human aesthetics in mind. Nature instead often designs with bees in mind, taking into account things we wouldn't know about, like patterns on the petals in ultraviolet that humans can't even see. We've been cultivating roses for 5,000 years, beginning in China, and by now, countless varieties depend on their ability to please us rather than any natural pollinator. It's working! They are over the top gorgeous. I had too much fun taking pictures of them, so here are the results.