CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Bob Speer, left, a rose consultant at the University of Hawaii Urban Garden Center, and Adela Rhoades showcase one type of rose bush at the garden, founded by the Honolulu Rose Society.
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A garden showcasing a colorful array of rose varieties at a University of Hawaii off-campus facility in Pearl City has closed.
The rose garden established by the Honolulu Rose Society at the Urban Garden Center more than 10 years ago closed in April after differences arose between the nonprofit organization and UH Manoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture &Human Resources, Cooperative Extension Service, which owns and operates the open-air facility.
The rose garden, one of the various gardens featured at the 30-acre Urban Garden Center, showcased more than 280 roses and dozens of varieties such as Barefoot, Historic and Star Roses, the Honolulu Rose Society said.
The garden center, on the makai side of Home Depot in Pearl City, opened in 1989 to provide urban horticulture information to the community.
According to UGC’s website, the center serves as a community resource center where agricultural scientists “conduct research and provide field demonstrations and educational exhibits for the community’s benefit.”
In 2009 the garden center invited the Honolulu Rose Society to create a rose garden at the facility. Society members cared for and managed the rose plantings with the help of volunteers and held workshops on how to grow roses in Hawaii’s warm climate.
President Myrna Cariaga said, “As much as we are sad that the rose garden is closed, we do appreciate the time. We do appreciate the opportunity that was presented to us at the time.”
“We look forward to a new chapter,” Cariaga said, adding that the Rose Society hopes to reestablish the rose garden at a different site on Oahu. “We are open to discussion.”