Oaklandish

This coming Saturday, January 9, the City of Oakland Public Works Agency is sponsoring the annual rose pruning demonstration at the historic Morcom Rose Garden at 700 Jean Street from 9:00am to 1:00pm. The garden is home to over 5,000 roses and over 900 rose varieties as well as many fountains and waterways. Bring your pruners and gloves and learn professional rose pruning techniques from Master Rosarians. Learn how to make rose hips into salve, tea, and jelly. Identify insects in a workshop sponsored by the Insect Sciences Museum of California (http://www.bugpeople.org). Rain or shine this event is a great way to get to know an Oakland resource a lot of people don't know about.

“Friends of the Oakland Rose Garden” is an Oakland based grassroots group of volunteers committed to making it easy and fun for people to connect with the Morcom Rose Garden. Their goal is to help care for the Garden while building the community around the Garden.

The Morcom Rose garden was originally called the Morcom Amphitheater of Roses, reflecting one of the key design elements conceived by Arthur Cobbledick, the Landscape Architect who created the garden plan in the 1930’s. Fortunately Arthur’s son Bruce Cobbledick, a garden activist in Oakland, donated the original garden drawings and his knowledge of the garden to fill out the garden’s history. Beginning in 1932, as an inspiration of the Businessmen’s Garden Club, Oakland’s Morcom Rose Garden has a history of cooperation and partnership. In response to a culture shaped by The Depression, the garden was designed to highlight the extravagant rose in formal gardens surrounded by a rugged natural setting. It was a WPA project, Mayor Frank Morcom planted the first rose in 1933, and for nearly eight decades the Morcom Rose Garden has offered Oakland a stimulating and restful place to go.

The "Dedicated Deadheaders" is the Master Volunteer program started by Tora Rocha in response to the City's budget cuts. These volunteers go through a training program, and when completed they earn the "Now Famous" tie-dyed vest, then they are able to work in the garden on there own. This core group of people have been very instrumental in keeping Morcom and the neighborhood thriving this year.

Their volunteer schedule is on their website http://friendsofoaklandrose.org

In addition to printing volunteer vests, we printed the "Friends of Morcom Park Rose Garden" shirt using a vintage photo brought to us by the Deadheaders.



Available in our limited edition section at
http://www.oaklandish.com/shop/morcom-rose-garden-p-570.html