Rosarium in the Silesian Park

The Rosarium in the Silesian Park, also known as the Rose Garden, is a themed garden in Chorzów with a collection of about 300 rose varieties. It opened on 24 June 1968 and has been one of the best-known places in the Silesian Park ever since.

How the idea for a rose garden came about

The initiative came in 1964 from the Polish Society of Rose Lovers, which proposed a collection of about 30,000 bushes. The design was prepared at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW) under Prof. Władysław Niemirski, the park's chief designer. Earthworks were finished in 1965, and the main part of the planting was done in autumn 1966. The opening coincided with the first International Rose Exhibition. The varieties were brought by lorry from growers in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

In 2005-2007 the soil and bushes were replaced and an irrigation system was installed, but the original layout was kept and is still clearly visible.

How it is designed

The garden has its own style, not modelled on German or English gardens. It is made up of large honeycomb-shaped modules, and each flower bed is divided into cells of 7.5 m². There are 374 such cells. Beside them are lens-shaped borders.

The roses grown here are mainly floribunda, shrub, climbing, standard, miniature and bedding roses. Between the beds there are hedges of yew, thuja, barberry and privet, a small pond, and long concrete pools with water lilies. The garden also has the bench of Karolinka and Karlik.

When the roses bloom

According to the Silesian Park website, the roses bloom most intensely from mid-June to mid-July, and later flower again, with less intensity, until autumn. The park now gives about 35,000 bushes in about 300 varieties. Other sources speak of about 30,000 bushes and an area of about 7 ha, while the park's website mentions 350 varieties planted at the start on 14 ha, so the figures depend on the source and the moment of counting.

The park also notes that the Chorzów Rosarium was included in the catalogue of the Indian Rose Society among the 35 most beautiful rose gardens in the world.

Nearby

• Just 200 m away stands the gate of the Silesian Zoological Garden.
• About 400 m from the Rosarium is the Silesian Zoological Garden.
• The Rosarium is part of the Silesian Park.
• About 1.2 km away is the Silesian Planetarium.

Practical information

• Location: Silesian Park, Chorzów.
• Information about the garden and a visit planner are on the parkslaski.pl website.
• Opening hours and admission rules are best checked with the park's manager.