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Oakland’s Morcom Rose Garden, a collection of thousands of showy shrubs and vines tucked away in a amphitheater setting in the Grand Lake neighborhood, was recently vandalized by thieves who stole 51 rose bushes.
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The Oct. 16 theft wasn’t the first time plants at the city park have been damaged or stolen. However, according to Nancy Friedman, a volunteer gardener who helps tend and prune the collection, this most recent incident was especially upsetting.
“Volunteers and city staff are very discouraged because of the many years of hard work put into collecting, grafting, establishing, and labeling the plants that were destroyed that night, leaving empty holes in the ground,” Friedman wrote in the Splashpad News, where the theft was first reported.
Friedman wrote that the shrubs were pulled up by the roots without any digging, meaning many of them will likely die.
Garden volunteers are urging the public to be watchful and report anyone who steals or damages plants.
Friends of the Morcom Rose Garden, which coordinates the volunteers who do most of the work to take care of the garden, alongside city parks staff, are also raising money for supplies.
Opened in 1934, the garden was named in honor of Oakland Mayor Fred Morcom in 1953. The seven-acre park has thousands of rose plants landscaped among fountains, stairs, benches, and walkways.
A cascade water feature in Morcom Rose Garden. Darwin BondGraham
Morcom Rose Garden. Credit: Darwin BondGraham
A sign notifying park visitors that the park is under surveillance. Credit: Darwin BondGraham
A blooming Blush Noisette” rose, bred in 1814 and one of the Morcom garden’s many heirloom flowers. Credit: Darwin BondGraham
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