Wohl Rose Park is a public garden

Public Garden

Public Garden is the second mini-album by Dragon Ash; released in 1997. Realism II was used as the theme for Asahi National Broadcasting Co.'s "Sports Spotters" show.-Track listing:#"Realism II" – 2:55#"Ability → Normal" – 3:05...

 in Givat Ram

Givat Ram

Givat Ram is a neighborhood in central Jerusalem, Israel. Many of Israel's most important national institutions are located in Givat Ram, among them the Knesset, the Israel Museum, the National Library of Israel and the Israeli Supreme Court.-Etymology:...

, Jerusalem, located opposite the Knesset

Knesset

The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...

 and government precinct, at the foot of the Israeli Supreme Court

Supreme Court of Israel

The Supreme Court is at the head of the court system and highest judicial instance in Israel. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem.The area of its jurisdiction is all of Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme...

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The park was established in 1981. Over 400 varieties of rose

Rose

A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...

s are grown there, many of them gifts from countries around the world. The Wohl Rose Park covers 19 acres (76,890.3 m²). It is one of the few rose parks of its kind in the Middle East, where there is no rainfall in summer.

The park's Garden of Nations is made up of sections donated by other countries. Each section has rose varieties characteristic of, or grown in, the respective country. The park also has an experimental section where new varieties of roses are tested for their suitability for public and private gardens in Israel.

In October 2003, the Wohl Rose Park won an award for excellence in an international competition for rose gardens from all over the world. The park was proclaimed one of the eleven most beautiful rose gardens in the world. In addition to some 15,000 rose bushes, the park features expansive lawns, hills, quarries, an ornamental pond with aquatic plants and fish, a waterfall, rockeries, and sculptures. A sixth-century mosaic

Mosaic

Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...

 floor unearthed at Kibbutz

Kibbutz

A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...

 Sde Nahum

Sde Nahum

Sde Nahum is a kibbutz in the Beit She'an Valley in northern Israel. Located around 4 km northwest of Beit She'an, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council...

 was installed in the park.

The Knesset Menorah

Knesset Menorah

The Knesset Menorah is a bronze monument about five meters high, that is located at the edge of Gan Havradim in front of the Knesset. Built by Benno Elkan, a British-Jewish sculptor who worked on it for 6 years, the Parliament of the United Kingdom gave it to Israel in 1956...

 is located outside the park, facing the Knesset

Knesset

The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...

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Due to the park's location opposite the Prime Minister's Office and other government buildings, it is a choice site for Israeli demonstrators: The garden often hosts tent cities of protesters, with tables for petition signing, banners and placards.

History

The original design for the park was drawn up in 1949. In its early years, the park was only used for official government ceremonies. It opened to the general public towards the end of the 1950s. It was known at the time as President's Park. In 1978-1979, David Gilad of the Israel Flower Board was looking for a location for a rose park that would be the focal point of the international rose congress that was to convene in Israel in October 1981. President's Park was deemed an appropriate site due to its unique location and panoramic views. The park was re-landscaped by landscape architect Joseph Segal. The project was carried out in cooperation with the Jerusalem Foundation

Jerusalem Foundation

The Jerusalem Foundation is an international non-profit organization whose goal is the improvement of the quality of life for all citizens of Jerusalem. It was founded in 1966 by the mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Kollek. The foundation is politically not affiliated...

 under the sponsorship of Vivienne and Maurice Wohl

Maurice Wohl

Maurice Moshe Wohl CBE was a British businessman and philanthropist.-Biography:Maurice Wohl was born in the East End of London to Eastern European parents. At a young age, Wohl became a property developer creating 'United Real Property Trust'...

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Planting goals

When selecting the rose varieties, one of the goals was to show different groups of roses: Species roses - the original species from which varieties were bred 300 years ago; Old Garden Roses - the products of early breeding of roses; and modern roses such as Hybrid tea roses, Floribunda

Floribunda

Floribunda may refer to:*A popular rose cultivar group, see Floribunda *A former cactus genus now placed in Cipocereus* Cassia floribunda, a synonym for Senna septemtrionalis, a plant species...

, Polyanthas, miniature roses, rose shrubs, and modern climbers.

Another goal was to demonstrate various garden possibilities: Blossoming swathes of color, roses climbing up pergolas and pillars, "sculpted" rose shrubs, rambling roses, standards roses, roses with decorative fruit, hedges made up of rose bushes, and more.