CAPE STILL A `CITY OF ROSES'

Cape Girardeau is called The City of Roses. In 1961, the Reader's Digest published an article about The Beautiful Ten Mile Garden and the 25,000 rose climbers area residents had planted along the highway that joined Cape to Jackson, the county seat 10 miles to the northwest. The magazine also gave details about the successful Rose Display Test Garden in Capaha Park maintained by the Cape Council of Garden Clubs and the member clubs that provided care for the garden.

All of the beauty that was created, through planting rose bushes supplied by firms that specialize in developing roses and sending them to test gardens like the one in Cape Girardeau, did not happen over night. It was years in developing and it was made possible by such individuals as the late Mrs. Thomas G. Harris, Mrs. Chris E. Stiver, members of the national Rose Society and the late George Naeter who really was the electric charge that promoted the Ten Mile Garden.

Joining in this promotion were avid gardeners Mrs. W.E. Walker, Mrs. William Leming, Mrs. H.V. Ashley Jr., Mrs. William Barks, Mrs. Harry Foster, Mrs. Kermit Gerhardt, Mrs. D.J. Rush and others.

The climbers they planted were red, pink and white, and scattered through the roadside bordering the highway were flowers, many of them planted from wild flower seed.

The overall effect was beautiful. Large trees formed leafy arches over the road during the hot summer months, and visitors to the area were impressed and left Cape Girardeau County singing the praises of "the gardeners". The plants continued to bloom year after year until roadwork gradually destroyed the root systems, and finally the enlargement of the highway made the Ten Mile Garden only a memory.

Looking to the future, a strategic planning steering committee was organized in May 1987. The organization became Vision 2000.

Roses were then planted under the supervision of Barbara (Mrs. Harry) Rust. Some 700 Bloomin' Easy roses were planted on the slopes along Interstate I-55 just north of the Route K overpass where travelers and residents entering or leaving the city could see them. There are additional beds of other attractive shrubs and trees on the incline and the plan is to carry this planting of rose beds to other intersections along the highway at the entrances to Cape Girardeau.

After the first plantings, some of the bushes were killed the following winter when a late freeze in February proved a disaster. The rose plants were replanted by members of the Vision 2000 committee one Saturday.

Vision 2000 is now encouraging residents to plant roses in their yards. Many individuals have followed the suggestion as have public institutions, hospitals and schools. The bushes are full of new growth and buds are developing. Roses will appear in late May and early June.

The climate and soil of the area in this part of Southeast Missouri is conducive to growing roses.

While the present plants are hybrid roses, Missouri has a natural wild rose that grows in some areas. It is a light pink, single petal flower that produces many buds and large hips that are used for various things. The plant grows in hilly areas in St. Louis County.

It is hardy and transplants easily, survives the winter well and does not need pampering. It returns year after year but needs shade. The plant resembles the Malmedy rose discovered long ago in the mountains near Malmedy, Belgium, by a French doctor and botanist, Le Jeune, who used the hips in making some medicine with great success. It is possible that some of the early French settlers brought plants with them for medical use when they came to Missouri.

Rose, the queen of the garden, has many uses besides sharing its beauty, and Cape Girardeau is proud to claim it as a signature.