Every cut brings her joy.
Sheila Wiley arrives by 7 a.m. at the Mission Rose Garden every Wednesday to begin her beloved weekly routine: cutting the tops of roses to make way for new blooms, a process called “deadheading.”
Her bed carries a special significance. She manages the yellow Julia Child rose, which is named after the famous chef and is the only oval-shaped bed at the mission.
“People love this garden,” Wiley said. “Every time I turn around, I see the most beautiful views. No matter where I look it has been lovely.”
Wiley is one of nearly 30 volunteers who tend to the Rose Garden every week, making sure it sparkles and radiates with color and beauty. Although the park is owned by the city, the Parks & Recreation Department relies on volunteers to care for the roses year-round.
The city’s parks and recreation department held a reception last week at the Rose Garden to honor the volunteers. Simon Herrera, parks manager, said the city would not be able to care for the roses without the work of the volunteers. There isn’t the budget to employ full-time staff to do so.
The Mission Garden is home to about 2,200 different roses.
Wiley started to volunteer about five years ago. She selected the Julia Child rose partly because she was honored to do so, and also because of a chance encounter. Years earlier she was making campaign calls for former Santa Barbara City Councilman and 2nd District County Supervisor Tom Rogers when one of the people on her call list was named “Julia Child.”
She thought how unfortunate it must have been for the person to have the same name as the chef. But when she called, she heard Child’s unmistakable deep voice.
Wiley, a retired English skills teacher at Santa Barbara City College, said she spends about two hours at the garden.
“People are walking, sitting on the bench drinking coffee, doggies are running, people are starting their day,” Wiley said.
The Rose Garden is one of Santa Barbara’s most recognizable spots, a front lawn of sorts for so many in the community. It’s a place where people take a sandwich for lunch or indulge in a glass of wine in the evening. People walk their dogs, play games or just take some time to socialize with friends.
Jann Olsen has volunteered for the past two years. She worked for years in a landscape architect’s office and now part-time for an accountant.
She brought her shears to the garden and walked over to her rose bed and started deadheading.
“It’s lovely, it’s peaceful and it’s nature,” Olsen said.
She cares for a bright pink Bewitched rose bed.
“A lot of tourists walk through, and it is kind of cool to talk to them,” Olsen said.
She has always liked to garden. She called getting her hands in the soil “therapy.”
A lot of times she’ll come after work, hear the Mission bells and watch the sunset.
“I just love plants,” she said. “I think they talk to me.”
For married couple Linda and Mike Ayala, volunteering at the Rose Garden carries special personal meaning.
“We got married here 52 years ago,” Linda Ayala said, referring to the Mission. Her mother and grandmother also were married at the Mission. She also had an aunt uncle who volunteered at the Rose Garden.
Linda said she decided to volunteer when her husband retired.
“I needed something to do,” she said. “And I thought of this. This is so beautiful. And the smell is nice too.”
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