History of the Rose Garden

The garden was established in 1996 in partnership between the college and the Mesa-East Valley Rose Society. Through the efforts of countless volunteers and generous contributors, the garden has become a landmark that celebrates roses as the floral emblem of the United States, a symbol of love, friendship, beauty and peace. The garden is maintained by the “Deadheaders”, volunteers from the community, as well as members of the Mesa-East Valley Rose Society.

The first and second phases of the Rose Garden contain approximately 3000 roses overall and the MCC/Mesa-East Valley Rose Society Rose Garden will be the largest in the state of Arizona and possibly in the Southwest. The seatwall and terrace patio area in the East garden were dedicated to two of Arizona's favorite roses, Former Governor Rose Mofford and the Honorable Polly Rosenbaum, former State Representative.

In 2000, the Rose Garden at MCC received formal approval from the All-America Rose Selections (AARS) to become one of 26 test gardens nationwide. When the garden was visited by Frank Benardella, representing the AARS, he indicated that he considered it be among the top three or four test gardens in the United States, based upon the quality of the garden itself and the conscientious work of the local AARS evaluators. In a later visit by Johnny Becnel, he declared the garden to be one of the finest public gardens he had ever seen. This included phases one and two.

In the winter of 2002-3, a new project began, the Phase 3 Veteran’s Garden. It is designed to honor United States veterans from all branches of the military. Roses included in the original plantings are all those with “patriotic” names. This phase is nearing completion and the dedication will be held on November 10th of this year. Please plan on attending.