STOP TO SMELL THE ROSES; THE ROSE DISPLAY GARDEN AT CAPAHA PARK HAS GAINED NATIONAL FAME

Visitors to the Rose Garden can see many varieties of roses.

The Rose Garden consists of 40 beds of roses.

"Perfect Moment" is one of the rose varieties in the garden.

A guest book is available for visitors at a kiosk next to the garden.

Cape Girardeau's Rose Garden has gained a measure of national fame since its founding in 1953.

It was accepted by the American Rose Society as a nationally accredited Rose Display Test Garden in 1955, making it one of three test gardens in Missouri, along with one in Kansas City and Shaw's Garden in St. Louis.

Reader's Digest did a story that included the Rose Garden in March 1961.

And the garden is visited yearly by hundreds of travelers from around the nation.

"People come from all over to see the garden," said Edna Ruth Fischer, a member of the Four Seasons Garden Club and treasurer of the Cape Girardeau Council of Garden Clubs. "But we in Cape take it for granted and maybe don't appreciate it as much as others do."

The guest book contained in the kiosk at the garden indicates that indeed people from all over do visit.

And now is as good a time as ever to see the garden. The May-June period is the peak growing time for roses, and the garden is being kept in excellent condition.

The Rose Garden at the northwest corner of Capaha Park, is maintained through a partnership between Cape Girardeau's Parks and Recreation Department and the four remaining Cape Girardeau garden clubs (Four Seasons, Ramblewood, River Hills and Rose Hill).

The Parks and Recreation Department mows the grass, sprays the roses for insects and fungus and maintains the kiosk and the fence. The city also paved the east entrance to the garden, along with parking space for about three cars.

Dan Muser, director of parks and recreation for Cape Girardeau, said that there has been a very good working relationship between the city and the garden clubs in maintaining the Rose Garden.

"We help as much as we can when they ask," said Muser. "I think the garden is an asset to the community. A lot of people throughout the country who are interested in roses have made a special side trip to see the Rose Garden."

Garden club members appreciate the city's help. "Dan has been wonderful help to us," said Anne Foust, president of the Ramblewood Garden Club. "The garden wouldn't be in the condition it's in if it weren't for his cooperation. He's been just super."

The maintenance of the roses themselves is done by volunteers, most of whom are members of the garden clubs.

Cape Girardeau has had as many as eight garden clubs in the past, but with the disbanding of the Cape Girardeau Garden Club last year, there are only four left.

Each club is responsible for 10 of the 40 beds of roses in the garden. Volunteers maintain their beds weekly, trimming the spent blooms and weeding.

Some volunteers spend more than their allotted amount of time at the garden. Everyone says Jo Wikel, rose chairman, is probably the most dedicated.

"Jo Wikel is the backbone of the Rose Garden," said Fischer. "We lovingly call her Fido because she works like a dog. And we kid her about having a cot in our little supply building because she's there so much."

Among others often mentioned for their dedication are Loretta Dodd, current president of the Cape Council of Garden Clubs; Hannah Maddox, who does "a heck of a lot of work"; and Kenny Swan, the caretaker, who "probably does more than he gets paid for."

"Between Jo and Kenny and people like Hannah," said Dodd, "the Rose Garden is really looking nice."

The garden has about 800 roses of many varieties, which include Hybrid Teas, the most popular, which have only one rose per stem. New roses are added as they are tested by the American Rose Society and become available.

Foust said that the Rose Garden is still one of the American Rose Society's active test gardens. "This is a good area to test roses because of our high humidity, which promotes fungus growth, and the extreme heat," she said. "If a rose does well here, it probably will do well in other places."

The Council of Garden Clubs, which is a cooperative among the four garden clubs, works to raise funds for the maintenance of the garden. The Council sponsors an annual plant sale in April, and the annual fall flower show will be held in October in the Family Life Center of Centenary United Methodist Church.