Las Rosas de Parc Cervantes

I was lucky enough to visit Parc Cervantes before the grey clouds and cunning rain set in. This park located right on Avenguda Diagonal 708-716 is a must for local or tourists alike. The park has two entrances on Diagonal and Ronda de Dalt.

The park is intoxicatingly beautiful during May and June. Over 20,000 roses are in bloom at this moment and the range of rose variety is vast. There are roses from Denmark, Germany and of course, France, which in my opinion produces the best roses. The color range is staggering in tonality and saturation. And then there is the fragrance delirium that overcomes your olfactory sense. Powdery sweet, lemon scent, citrus scents, violet scents--I can continue to describe them, but it is best you visit the park. You will find floribundas, climbers, hybrids and countless species.

I recommend visiting the park during the morning , since rose fragrances are at their strongest. Why? The reply comes from Professor Leonard Perry from the University of Vermont Extension.

"Scent not only changes over time, but with time of day.  Early morning is when scents are strongest, the oils most powerful, and so when roses are harvested for rose oil.  Rose scent may be more powerful with the first blooms of summer.  Rose scent even can change from outdoors to indoors.  Just the cutting can change the chemical releases that we smell, so a rose not very fragrant outdoors may be quite scented once in a vase inside. 

The other fact to keep in mind that scent in flowers, including roses, is not meant by nature for us but rather for the pollinators of the flowers.  Scents in flowers are signals to those pollinators such as some bees to come visit the flowers, and are often smelled before they see the flowers.  Flowers release scent when they are ready to be pollinated, which in roses often translates to a more powerful scent when flowers are half open. 

In general, roses with the best scents are darker colors, have more petals, and have thick or velvety petals.  Red and pink roses often smell like what we term “rose”.  White and yellows often smell of violets, nasturtium, and lemon.  Orange roses often smell of fruits, violets, nasturtium, and clove."

With that, I leave you with some photographs I shot with the camera on my Sony cell phone. I forgot to pack my camera on the day I went with my good friend Teresa to visit the park. 

Gaudir de les roses!!