Centennial Rose Garden

The Centennial Rose Garden holds a singular display of three hundred roses against the backdrop of an Anchorage summer. It emerged in nineteen sixty-seven to mark the Alaska Purchase centennial. Mayor Elmer Rasmuson led the push to plant varieties capable of surviving the subarctic soil. Despite the harsh winters, a core of dedicated volunteers returns every spring to prune and prep the beds, keeping these fragile blooms alive in a climate where roses typically refuse to grow.