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There is a rose in Spanish Harlem
A red rose up in Spanish Harlem
It’s growing in the street, right up through the concrete
I’m going to pick that rose and watch her as she grows, in my garden
The famous lyrics of the hit song “Spanish Harlem” may have been written for East Harlem, but West Harlem and Washington Heights have begun to see more roses growing amidst the concrete, in their own gardens.
An initiative from Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s office has created the Heritage Rose District of New York City. The official district stretches from W. 135th to W.163rd Streets, and is centered around Broadway and Trinity Cemetery, though some plantings are outside the official boundaries.
The creation of a rose district was inspired by a rose planting at Trinity Cemetery last spring. Stephen Scanniello of the Heritage Rose Foundation planted a breed known as Harrison’s Yellow – thought to be the Yellow Rose of Texas – near George Folliott Harrison’s grave at Trinity.
Harrison was a 19th century lawyer and amateur gardener who played with rose-hybrids. Legend has it that a rose planted at Harrison’s New York home in the 1840s was the inspiration for the Civil War marching son.
The borough president’s office got word of the planting through a New York Times article covering the planting. The office had been looking for a way to create a unifying theme and connect the neighborhood’s cultural resources. Roses seemed to be an apt unifier.
Paimaan Lodhi of the borough president’s office said that the initiative was aimed at creating “cultural tourism.”
“This is different because you can’t enjoy roses from the top of a bus,” said Lodhi. “You have to be down on the ground to enjoy them.”
While many places throughout the country have famous rose gardens, the Heritage Rose District is the first official rose district. All of the plantings are either “heritage roses” or roses that have a cultural connection to the neighborhood. Heritage roses date back to at least the 19th century. Their stories, when known, are usually intertwined with people’s histories, and the movement of people from one place to another.
The early Dutch were likely the first to bring roses to Harlem, said Scanniello. This was in the days when Harlem was established as a Dutch village, distinct and separate from New Amsterdam. Many of the roses brought by the Dutch still grow in Harlem today, among them, the ‘Musk Rose,’ said Scanniello.
Many of the early, major landowners grew roses on their estates. John Bradhurst, namesake of the Bradhurst neighborhood and street, had French gardens and greenhouses in West Harlem overlooking the Hudson. R.F. Carman, one of the biggest landowners in Harlem and Washington Heights, grew the Rose du Roi (Rose of the King, named for King Louis XVIII of France) in his gardens.
In one particular twist of history, the ‘Green Rose’ played a role in the Underground Railroad. According to folk legend, the Green Rose was planted in the front yard of a family in Maryland who was part of the Underground Railroad, said Scanniello. The Green Rose came to be a signal that a particular house or residence was part of the Railroad. Green Roses were planted this spring at the Harriet Tubman Memorial on W. 122nd Street and Fredrick Douglass Boulevard.
In the case of some roses, much of the history has yet to be unearthed. A rose dubbed the ‘Puerto Rico’ was “discovered” in recent years in Puerto Rico. However, the rose may have grown in Puerto Rico for centuries, and its name may have been lost, said Scanniello. In these cases, the rose is given a “study name.”
So where does one go to find out what roses were grown here, in Washington Heights and Harlem, years ago? Scanniello, who has been researching roses for 25 years, said he looks everywhere: in gardening books, family journals, papers, social diaries, horticulture magazines, and ladies magazines of the day. A woman-published and woman-authored journal called the ‘Ladies’ Wreath,’ written in the 1840s and 50s, contained a lot of information, said Scanniello. Each rose description in the journal includes a hand painted print of the rose. In addition, Scanniello has gleaned information by looking at the roses included in old paintings, including some of the paintings displayed at the Hispanic Society of America.
The Heritage Rose District is still in its beginning stages, said Lodhi. To date, over 400 rose bushes have been planted. A map of current plantings was created so that both residents and tourists can visit the sites. However, work remains to be done to make the district sustainable over the long term, said Lodhi. The next steps of the initiative include building upon current plantings and creating new partnerships with local organizations.
The next rose planting will be on It’s My Park Day in October. To get involved, visit the borough president’s Web site at: http://www.mbpo.org/. To learn more, visit: http://www.audubonparkny.com/Heritage_Rose_District_of_NYC_-_FINAL.pdf.
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