Green lawns are turning to gold with fallen leaves from maples, elms, tulip poplar and other trees. Waves on the lake seem louder, skies clearer and air crisper; a tinge of frost appears some mornings. Fall is here, and gardeners are preparing for winter, mulching and covering tender plants, bringing others indoors and reaping the final harvests of pumpkins, apples and herbs.
This fall, winter preparations at the Merrick Rose Garden envision a bright spring. The garden was dedicated in July 1948 in honor of attorney Clinton Merrick, who had served as Second Ward alderman for 23 years.
Where have all the roses gone?
Credit: Mary Gavin
In 1985, an early frost killed many roses in the garden. Two years later, landscape designer Charles Smith oversaw repairs, including a new brick outer wall constructed from old city street bricks, a wrought-iron fence and an irrigation system. Garden clubs and individuals donated nearly $9,000 for new plantings.
The garden, located at Lake Street and Oak Avenue, is free and open all year. From spring to late fall, tea roses, floribunda, rugosa and miniature roses bloom along a wide path around a stepped-down rectangle of grass.
The memorial plaque on a boulder at the north entrance and the original Centennial Fountain at the south end of the garden are markers of Evanston history. At this time of year, though, one may have to believe in, rather than see, the 200 varieties that showcase 2,000 roses in the summertime.
When roses grow too far from the center graft, which creates the new variety, they blossom from the original root, and the garden loses the new flower. Credit: Mary Gavin
Adam Theis, leader of the city’s greenways crew that oversees the Rose Garden, among other city-owned green spaces, said, “This year was successful. We lost some roses — they just didn’t want to be here.” But it was rabbits, he said, that caused the most damage.
Smith, who has spent the last several years organizing the restoration of the Jens Jensen gardens at the Harley Clarke mansion, is back at the Rose Garden. In a collaboration that will kick off officially on Tuesday, volunteers from the Jens Jensen Gardens in Evanston and greenways crews from the City of Evanston, with guidance from the Chicago Botanic Garden and donations from Chalet Home and Garden in Wilmette, will begin to repair and restore the garden.
Greenways crew leader Adam Theis, left, talks with Charles Smith, right foreground, and Chalet client services manager William Gardner about preparing the Rose Garden for winter and beyond. Credit: Mary Gavin
Some pruning will be required, not the careful pruning of spring to ensure proper growth, but enough to clear the paths of canes.
“We’ll leave the rose hips for the winter birds,” Smith said.
The Chalet will deliver 10 cubic yards of mulch, which volunteers will apply carefully. Crew leader Theis is particular about mulch. It has to be carefully sourced, he said, advising not to use leaves that have been piled into the street, where they can pick up oil and dirt and spread into a new garden any diseases or insects they hold.
The mulch from the Chalet will need a light touch in anticipation of the spring uncovering, a much more delicate process than covering, Theis said. He noted that the wide path will allow even volunteers of limited mobility to participate.
Sustaining the beds of roses
Smith acknowledged that, with his work on the Jens Jensen gardens here in Evanston that focused on native plants, roses might seem, well, far afield. Sustainability and beauty bridge the two, he said. Roses generally require the use of chemicals, but alternatives are appearing. “Wendy Pollock [who serves as steward of the Ladd Arboretum and is a RoundTable contributor] is researching sustainable practices [for roses],” he said.
William Gardner of the Chalet agreed, saying, “The Chalet is looking for sustainability.”
Smith said he wants to help create beauty in all his projects. The Rose Garden project represents the continuation of that. He hopes the volunteer day on Tuesday will generate energy for more people to become involved in restoring the garden.
“Let the people who have the time put in the time,” Smith said. “Let the people who have the money donate the money.”
In 1951, three years after the Merrick Rose Garden was dedicated, the original Centennial Fountain, seen in the distance, was restored and moved to the Rose Garden. Credit: Mary Gavin
See also in the RoundTable: A birthday toast to Charles Smith
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