Liza Rutherford and her husband Tim can hardly believe their eyes.
They’re surrounded by a colorful kaleidoscope of red, white and pink roses everywhere. The flowers are by their feet and even above their heads, nestled into rows of flowering arches.
“Oh my, it’s spectacular,” Rutherford said while standing in front of an ivy-covered gazebo that looks like it’s straight out of a fairytale.
“What a special place!” she said.
That magical place is the Helen S. Kaman rose garden at Elizabeth Park in Hartford. It’s the country’s oldest public rose garden with some variety of flowers dating back to the garden’s opening in 1904. It’s also the third largest rose garden in the United States, according to the Elizabeth Park Conservancy. At its peak in mid-to-late June, the garden will have more than 10,000 roses in bloom.