Poetry in Bloom

February 23, 2023
white rose from minot rose garden

Together with our partners—Brookline Parks & Open Space and the Friends of the Minot Rose Garden—the Library presented Poetry in Bloom. From April 1 through August 31, 2023, this project brought poetry to a beloved community rose garden in a local park.

The Park

The Minot Rose Garden sits within Winthrop Square Park, at the intersection of Browne and St. Paul streets. It was created in 1971 and named for Henry W. Minot, a former Chair of Brookline’s Park and Recreation Commission. Neighborhood volunteers have been helping maintain the space since the 1980s. The group of volunteers, now known as the Friends of the Minot Rose Garden, worked with the Town to extensively restore the garden in 2004. Today, the garden features more than 70 rose varieties—from old-fashioned cabbage roses to the newest hybrid tea varieties—across 12 beds and a trellis. It is jointly maintained by the Friends and the Town, under the guidance of Master Rosarian David Cannistraro. To learn more about the Friends, please email minotroses@aol.com or visit their Facebook page.

The Poems

Five poems with a connection to roses were on display in the garden: “Roses” by George Eliot, “We Pulled a Rose in Summer Time” by Elizabeth Curtis Holman, “Cultivo Una Rosa Blanca” by José Martí, “Rosebush” by Valerie Worth, and “Vaseful of Wild Roses” by Jennifer Barber. The first three are in the public domain and can be found online. The latter two are used with kind permission from the authors or their publishers. Learn about each of the poets in these brief profiles.

map from library to park

Visiting

Winthrop Square Park is a ten-minute walk from the Coolidge Corner Library. Free street parking surrounds the park on Browne, Still, St. Paul, and Freeman streets. The nearest T stops are Kent Street and St. Paul Street, on the C branch of the Green Line.

Programs

The following programs were held in conjunction with Poetry in Bloom: