MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Roses are among the most popular additions to home landscapes, and the Veterans Memorial Rose Garden at Mississippi State University provides a panorama of traditional and new rose varieties.

The garden is located at the Highway 182 entrance to the R. Rodney Foil Plant Science Research Facility.

“Rose planting at the site began during spring 2006. By fall 2007, construction was complete, and more than 30 rose cultivars were established at the garden,” said Pam Collins, assistant professor and director of gardens in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. “The garden is designed to be an important part of the horticulture program at MSU and to be a resource for members of the general public who are rose enthusiasts or who just enjoy the beauty of a facility of this type.”

The garden offers several features: a central gazebo, raised brick planting beds encircling the gazebo, paved walkways through the beds, an arched bridge connecting the site to a visitor parking lot, three arbors, and an ornate brick and steel fence. The facility is Americans with Disabilities Act compliant.

The garden was designed by MSU landscape architect Darryl Ray. Volunteers from the Oktibbeha County Rose Society and the Oktibbeha County Master Gardener Program planted the first roses at the site.

The garden includes the hybrid tea, shrub, floribunda, ground cover and grandiflora classes of roses.

“Most of the rose cultivars at the garden are on Jackson and Perkins understock or are hybrids developed by Louisiana hybridizer Eddie Edwards and grown on fortuniana rootstock,” Collins said. “These plants have good resistance to heat stress and plant diseases common in Mississippi.”

Most of the rose cultivars in the garden were donated by two major supporters of MSU's horticulture programs.

“Well-known Mississippi rosarian James Mills, owner of K and M Nursery in Buckatunna, donated plants, as well as time and talent to the establishment of the garden,” Collins said. “Jackson and Perkins, a national full-service nursery, has provided plants and other support for the garden. The company's efforts have been coordinated by its north Mississippi sales representative, Dave Shanklin, a graduate of the MSU horticulture program.”

The rose garden is used for a variety of activities, including:

• A teaching resource for the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences;
• A research site for MSU students and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station scientists;
• Self-guided tours by the public;
• Programs for garden clubs and other organizations by MSU personnel;
• Weddings and other private events by appointment.

Virtual tours of the rose gardens will be available soon at http://rosegarden.msstate.edu.