The 100+ year old sunken rose garden, alone, would make this park well worth visiting, but it has so much more than that, too: A lake with a fountain (and that you can fish in), a big playground, tennis courts, lots of trees, lots of open space without trees too, basketball court (that becomes an ice hockey rink), picnic tables, and plenty of benches. Canadian geese and their babies can be regularly spotted here, and a lone great blue heron likes to hang out by the bridge late at night. I've also spotted two different types of owls. Of course there are also cardinals, robins, sparrows, squirrels, rabbits, and so on). The rose garden attracts tons of butterflies and bumble bees, and I once saw an adventurous frog in it.
Oh, and the park also has a mini-library-house-thing made out of a tree stump, complete with its own solar-powered light. I was sad to see that tree get destroyed by lightening, and I'd rather still have the three, but I'm so glad that they turned what was left of it into something so unique. Another reason to come to the park is that you can go for a lovely stroll down Forest Park Avenue, just off the rose garden.
Since I moved here (fall 2016) they've added numerous benches on concrete platforms, added dogpoo bag dispensers and garbage cans, and planted quite a few trees. It's wonderful to see the constant improvements. There also have been improvements to the park just across the street, like the placement of a bunch of nice rocks at the water's edge.
Really the only downside is that they don't/barely maintain the roses on the sides of the park or behind the white columns. I'd assume it's due to a lack of funding, but, at the same time, they routinely RIP OUT entire flowerbeds of lovely, colorful, blooming tulips or other flowers and replace them with new ones a few days later. I don't understand this, but it happens all the time that the flowers that I just fell in love with are gone just a few days later. Weird. I wish they'd put the effort, time, and money toward making the roses look healthier instead. That being said, the non-rose flowers and other plants along the reflecting pool are the real stars of the show here. They're most beautiful in August, September, and October, and then they rip them out at the end of October. read more