Rose Garden

Rose Garden

Rose Garden

The Huai'an Rose Garden is situated in the southeastern part of Chuxiu Park, adjacent to the zoo on the west, and spans 4.9 hectares. It serves as a specialized rose garden that combines production, scientific research, and sightseeing.

Huai'an roses have a rich history. As recorded in the "Rose Flower Spectrum" by Liu Chuanchuo of the Qing Dynasty, Huai'an roses thrived in the early Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty and were widely cultivated across the Huaiyang region, with many rare and unique varieties originating from there. Chen Zhi’s "Ornamental Dendrology" states: “The cultivation of roses began in Qinghuai, Jiangsu, and gradually spread throughout the regions north and south of the Yangtze River.” Through long-term cultivation and breeding, Huai'an has preserved a large number of ancient rose varieties. In December 1986, following deliberation by the Municipal People's Congress, the rose — a traditional and beloved flower of the people of Huai'an — was designated as the city flower. By the end of 1986, work began on establishing the Rose Garden, and efforts were made to extensively collect and introduce various rose varieties.

Between 1988 and 1989, the city twice invited local rose experts to conduct preliminary identification of rose varieties in the garden. Then, from 1992 to 1993, seven experts from the China Rose Society — including Zong Ronglin, Huang Shanwu, and Li Hongquan — were invited twice more to assist in identification. Out of over 500 rose varieties, 238 were officially named, including 22 modern rose varieties and ancient Chinese roses, making this garden one of the earliest in China to systematically name rose varieties and home to the largest collection of ancient rose cultivars.

In March 1991, at the invitation of Japan, Zhu Yangshi, director of the Municipal Gardens Bureau, and Liu Bai visited Japan to study flower production and marketing. This greatly accelerated the development of the Rose Garden. In 1991, drawing on the planning and layout features of rose gardens both domestically and abroad, and taking into account the local natural environment, traditional Chinese garden design techniques were employed. The design combined nature with structured planning, highlighting the terraced landscape. A total of 310 varieties and over 800 rose plants were arranged by system and color. Meanwhile, in accordance with the overall plan, structures such as pavilions, arched bridges, winding ponds, fairy sculptures, European-style landscape pots, wooden shade flower stands, exhibition halls, and paved pathways were successively built, initially forming scenic areas such as “The Fragrant Apricot Blossom Village,” “The Colorful Variety Garden,”

“The Light of Qinghuai Landscape Garden,” and “The Ancient Famous Blooms of Long-standing History.”

By the end of 1992, the Rose Garden had developed production infrastructure including climate-controlled greenhouses and plastic shelters, possessed a strong technical team, and mastered advanced techniques for propagating and exporting roses. It had achieved a certain scale of production, pioneering the export of large rose seedlings from Chinese rose gardens.

In 1993, it was designated as one of China’s Eight Major Rose Centers. By the end of 1997, the Huai'an Rose Garden had become a key floral base in Huai'an City, and the administrative office of the Jiangsu Province Traditional Famous Flowers Committee was also established here. It now has a central base of 4 hectares, over 10 economic cooperative entities of various forms covering more than 30 hectares, modern greenhouse facilities spanning over 400 square meters, steel-frame pipe sheds covering more than 2,000 square meters, and over 500 varieties of modern roses from both domestic and international sources, along with more than 20 varieties of ancient roses. The garden offers a full range of products including greening seedlings, greenhouse flowers, potted plants and cuttings, as well as foliage plants.

The Rose Garden currently employs over 30 staff members, including 15 college graduates with junior-level or higher professional titles, 20 horticultural workers of intermediate and senior levels, and 3 technicians.