From a weed-infested mess to the best of the best.
Thanks to a rescue from private citizens.
Following its remarkable turnaround over the last decade, the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden has been named a "Frontline Park" by City Parks Alliance, one of 12 nationwide to receive the honor.
The Rose Garden's "unique approach to partnerships and volunteer engagement" helped rescue it from years of neglect during lean budget years.
Weeds had taken over the garden by 2006, when the All-America Rose Selection, which accredits rose gardens, was considering "stripping" San Jose's rose bushes of their honor.
In 2007, the newly-formed Friends of the San Jose Rose Garden provided the effort and labor the city could not.
Within a few years, the garden had recovered sufficiently to be named "America's Best Rose Garden."
Local
As a "Frontline Park," the garden will receive top billing on the City Parks Alliance's Web site for a month, the group said in a press release.
