Dean Bond Rose Garden, Courtesy of Scott Arboretum, Swarthmore College

The Dean Bond Rose Garden was established to memorialize Elizabeth Powell Bond, the Dean of Women at Swarthmore College from 1890 to 1906, and her love of roses.  The garden was made possible through a bequest of Robert Pyle, Class of 1897.  Designed in 1956 by the Arboretum’s then Assistant Director, Gertrude Wister, the Dean Bond Rose Garden exhibits the great diversity of the genus Rose.  Today the Dean Bond Rose Garden is comprised of over 665 roses, displaying 213 different types.  Over the years, it has become a Swarthmore tradition for each senior to be pinned with a rose on graduation day.

The roses in the Dean Bond Rose Garden are arranged in eight beds, highlighting the different groups of roses.  Two large outer beds are devoted to Species and Old Garden roses.  The inner beds display modern bedding roses, including many examples of Hybrid Teas, Floribundas, and Grandifloras.  Climbers and Ramblers are supported on the posts and chains surrounding the garden. The Dean Bond Rose Garden presents a concentrated collection of roses for convenient study; visitors can see additional roses used in mixed plantings and garden-type settings throughout the Arboretum.   The roses are labeled by their species, cultivar or trademark name when applicable, and class.  The collection is updated regularly and displays the best roses for Delaware Valley Gardens.

Dean Bond Rose Garden at Scott Arboretum taken by Diane Mattis

The Rose Garden is part of the Scott Arboretum on the Swarthmore Campus.  The Arboretum, which creates the college campus, grows over 5,000 different kinds of plants and provides a display of the best ornamental plants for Delaware Valley gardens.

To learn more about roses visit their site:

www.scottarboretum.org