On Tuesday, Sept. 30, city officials and Fremont residents gathered to see a new take on an old space: an updated plaza and rose garden marking the main entrance to the historical California Nursery Historical Park in Niles.
Fremont city manager Karena Shackelford said, “This is more than a garden. It’s a living museum, a space for reflection—which I’ve already claimed; if you’re looking for me you can find me here—and a celebration of nature and community in bloom.”
The rose garden, and the historic nursery, trace their roots back to the state’s agricultural past. The California Nursery Company was founded by John Rock in 1865, relocated to Niles in 1884, and taken over by the Roeding family in 1917. The nursery supplied palms to the Panama Pacific International Exposition in 1915, some of which returned to the park and can still be seen today. It sold unique rose varieties and fruit varieties, seen in the catalogs preserved in the archives.
The nursery closed in 1972, and is now California Nursery Historical Park—a favorite spot of relaxation for Niles locals, and the site of one of LEAF’s (Local Ecology and Agriculture Fremont) community gardens. Fremont’s 2017 Park and Recreation Master Plan included updates to the pathways and signage, restrooms and historical buildings. A new plaza near the Nursery Avenue entrance expands the rose garden.
Stephanie Uchida
Photos by Stephanie Uchida
Stephanie Uchida
California Nursery Garden Club has maintained the display gardens since 1994. Member Reginald King shared that the gardens were overgrown and leafy. Now they’re pruned to encourage more blooming. An iconic windmill and archway are preserved as part of the garden.
With the park updates, the roses have “branched out” to the other side of the park entrance, into a circular event space with trellis and benches, and a wide lawn where chairs can be set up. At the opening, Fremont community services director Kim Beranek said, “The garden features heritage rose varieties once grown here over a century ago alongside new roses ensuring their legacy for future generations to enjoy.”
Rose horticulturalist Paul Zimmerman helped select the over 200 rose varieties for the new space, including 40 old garden roses. In an article for the July/August issue of American Rose magazine, he wrote, “These early roses will be near the main entrance of the garden and then as you move through the garden you move through the history of roses in California right up to current rose breeders.” Plants are labeled with the name of the variety and breeder so people can learn about the different blooms they encounter.
Funding for the updated plaza came from Fremont Bank Foundation, and Nalini and Hemant Gupta. The plaza will be open for rentals for weddings or other private events starting in 2026.
At the opening, Fremont Mayor Raj Salwan said the park both “enhances natural beauty” and “reminds us of our shared heritage.” He thanked the donors and the park’s partners: Math Science Nucleus (who maintains the archives and organizes educational tours) California Nursery Garden Club, LEAF and California Orchard Restoration Experiment (CORE), a subcommittee of Tri-City Ecology Center.
