A City Cloaked in Leaves: Rochester’s Verdant Vision
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast:
May 7, 1888
On this day, dear garden enthusiasts, a momentous occasion unfolded in the fair city of Rochester, New York.
The Rochester Parks Commission, a group of visionaries with an eye for verdant beauty, convened their first organizational meeting.
One can almost smell the freshly cut grass and hear the rustle of leaves as these forward-thinking individuals gathered to discuss the future of their urban landscape.
In a stroke of brilliance that would make any horticulturist's heart flutter, they resolved to extend an invitation to none other than Frederick Law Olmsted, the preeminent American landscape architect of the age. Imagine, if you will, the anticipation that must have filled the air as they penned their missive to this master of green spaces!
It is a delightful tidbit of horticultural history to note that Rochester would become the final municipal park system to bear the touch of Olmsted's genius.
One can't help but wonder if he saved his most exquisite designs for this last hurrah.
Charles Sprague Sargent, the first director of Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum, called Rochester "a city in a forest."
What a charming description!
It conjures images of towering elms and sturdy oaks standing sentinel over bustling streets and quaint homes. Indeed, from the very inception of Rochester, trees have been as integral to its character as the citizens themselves.
Picture, if you will, the scene that greeted the first intrepid settlers: an impenetrable wall of green, a veritable fortress of foliage that must have both awed and daunted those early pioneers.
How they must have marveled at the abundance of timber!
In a stroke of ingenuity that would make any practical gardener proud, these resourceful souls put their leafy surroundings to good use.
Would you believe, dear readers, that they constructed roads from the very trees they felled?
Yes, indeed! The aptly named Plank Road, now paved over by the relentless march of progress, stands as a testament to this arboreal ancestry.
As we tend to our own modest plots, let us take a moment to appreciate the foresight of those who came before us.
They understood, as we do, that a city without trees is like a garden without flowers – a bland and soulless affair.
So, the next time you prune your roses or plant a sapling, remember the legacy of Rochester and its forest-dwelling denizens.
Who knows? Perhaps your own green efforts will one day be the stuff of legend!
