A visit to the Cervantes rose gardens :: Aparca't

A visit to the Cervantes rose gardens

22/06/2006 15:00 h.

Text: Maria Rosa Salvadó

Photos: Dani García

In a large space where Sant Pere Màrtir meets Esplugues de Llobregat, between the Ronda de Dalt and Avinguda Diagonal, there is one of the prettiest theme gardens in Barcelona: the Roserar de Cervantes, right by the park of the same name.

The rose garden is separate from the rest of the park, with a collection of roses and hardly any obstructions to block a splendid view of many corners of the garden.

A sea of roses

This is what the Roserar de Cervantes offers from spring to the start of autumn. There are around ten thousand rose bushes of two thousand different species and varieties - from Asia, the Middle East, Europe and America. The best time to see the flowers is between May and July, when there may be as many as a hundred and fifty roses flowering at the same time, with their perfume and colour filling the five hectares occupied by the garden.

Starting from the Ronda de Dalt, you find a big semicircular pergola full of 233 different varieties of climbing roses. There is shade here, with benches to sit and contemplate not only the roses, but also the magnificent views of Barcelona.

Designed for visiting

The rose beds are orderly and surrounded by grass. Little paths with arches covered in roses invite you to enter. Here there are well cared for and orderly gravel paths, but you can also walk on the grass, to get even closer to the roses.

A perfumed garden

The entrance by the Avinguda Diagonal is full of roses planted for their wonderful smell. There are 235 varieties, and you don't have to be up close to smell the perfume, the whole air is full of it.

The smell accompanies you for a while as you move on and come to a sculpture of a woman and six olive trees admiring the roses. Nearby, the shade of the lime trees invites you to join them and rest for a while to admire the view.

Much more than flowers

The Roserar de Cervantes is a very special place, and not just for the roses. There is another important feature: it is an extraordinarily quiet place, despite being bordered by two busy main roads. To visit and really enjoy all that the park offers takes a few hours - but it's worth it.

At any time, when you have visited the Asian roses and are about to visit the Middle East, or when you just want a break from the noise and madness of the city, you can find benches all around the park and even a fountain or two to quench your thirst.

With the heat at this time of the year, it's worth stopping to have a rest under the huge umbrella like canopy of the Ombru, a large South American evergreen shrub. A place to contemplate the roses or read the newspaper, sheltered from the rays of the sun.

Did you know...

Since 2000, Barcelona has celebrated the arrival of May with an international competition for new roses. There are three areas in the rose garden reserved for the competition: one for the current year; another for the following year as roses need to be planted a year in advance to grow on site; and the third for winning roses from other years.

Obtaining a new rose is not easy. You have to cross two varieties: brushing the pollen from the male onto the female ovule, forming the fruit and seed. This is usually done in spring, and is very interesting. Every crossed flower is labelled and sealed so that the flower cannot be pollinated by any other male. In the autumn the fruit matures and is collected, and in the following spring the seeds are sown. When the plants grow, they are grafted onto a wild rose.

The new plants need time to develop, gradually displaying their characteristics. It may take years to find a variety of sufficient quality to enter in the competition, and. if it is successful, to commercialise it.