From Sunday, 24 March to Monday, 1 April 2024, the fountains in Zurich's Old Town were once again filled with colorful roses. Originally an initiative of the Reformed Church during the pandemic, with the idea of spreading joy and hope, this beautiful custom is fortunately being continued.
I left home early because I was dreading the crowds. The weather forecast said there was a 50% chance of rain. Is it bad if I was hoping this was gonna keep people at home, and I was probably the only one who counted on the other 50%? The 50% of no rain?
Well, I lost this gamble. Still plenty of other tourists (I consider myself being one just as well)
around monopolizing "their" spot to take pictures, rearrange - or even remove - roses. 
In other years there were up to six locations. This year "Only" four of them were filled with these lovely roses.
Either way, I enjoyed my Sunday morning walk, and since it was the first day the fountains were prepared, the roses looked really nice. In other years, by the time I had the opportunity to visit, they were a bit withered. In other years temperatures were higher, too. On the day the roses were out this year, temps dropped from 18 - 20° C the previous day, to 3 - 5° C (that's a decrease from 68° F to 40° F, yikes.)
I hope this new tradition is here to stay. It attracts a lot of people into the city, good for business, one would think. I can see rose cupcakes coming up in the future...
Do you know of anything similar happening where you live?
Tamra, the roses decorating the town in Zurich, sounds and looks from the photos, utterly beautiful - and how wonderful to hear that this is now becoming the norm! Your article about roses, reminds me of my descendant (George Letts) who used to grow roses in fields spanning 20 acres around Suffolk, England. I will share with you below a quote from a website on the local history "The Letts family on land up the hill from the Overgang grew a far more fragrant crop. In 1903, George Letts, known as “Fred” founded his horticultural firm in Hadleigh and was a pioneer in dispatching seeds and bulbs by mail order. In their Jubilee year the operation moved to the farm at Semer Lodge where the Letts lived. The seed and bulb trade diminished and the family concentrated on growing roses. There were twenty acres of rose fields around the village hall containing annually about two hundred thousand plants, which were delivered far and wide, the family business closed in 1985." accessed 20 April 2024.
ReplyDeleteA lovely sight, Tamara. That’s a lot of roses. I do not know another place that has this custom. It’s a wonderful one.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos. Great event.
ReplyDeleteNothing remoting like that! I've never even heard of rose fountains before. That is a lot of roses!
ReplyDeleteWow! How beautiful and something I've never seen. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHow gorgeous! I love how the fountains are loaded with roses just floating around! What a way to start my day by seeing beautiful roses.
ReplyDeleteOh so pretty! Thanks for sharing that.
ReplyDeleteOh, how beautiful! Those pictures are breathtaking. Nothing like that here, so I am glad I got to see them.
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