Adopt-a-Rose all year long, not just for Mother's Day or Valentine's Day!

An Adopt-a-Rose program in the Heritage Rose Garden allows individuals to adopt a rose for a donation of $50.00 (only $45/year to renew in subsequent years) and provides for a plaque to be placed in front of the rose with a personal inscription from the donor. You can Adopt-A-Rose at anytime though there are special Adopt-a-Rose promotions, twice a year, at Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. Call us at 408-298-7657 with questions. You can pay on-line, over the phone, or via check.

"We feel the Adopt a Rose program is a great way to support the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy and apprecaite having a way to honor our loved ones.  We now sponsor three roses through the program. Several years ago we attended "Spring In Guadalupe Gardens" and heard about the program.  We immediately signed up to sponsor "French Lace" in memory of Carol's mother and Betty's sister who were rose lovers and who both had died of cancer.  Soon after we added "Lavender Pinnochio" in memory of Betty's mother, another sister, and just recently we added her nephew to that inscription.  Then we discovered and adopted "Ulmer Munster" in honor of 'Friendship.'"
Betty Danielsen and Carol Olson
Members of The Guadalupe River Park Conservancy

• Click here to view photos of some of the roses available for adoption!
• Click here to see a map of the Garden
• Standard Adopt-A-Rose Form (97KB .pdf file)

FAQ's About the Adopt-A-Rose Program

What do you mean by adoption exactly?
We actually use the term loosely in this case. Adopting a rose does not mean you have to come down to the Heritage Rose Garden and tend to that plant...though we'd love to have you! Click here to read about our volunteer programs! Basically, adopting a rose just means that you are supporting the garden, and in exchange, you pick a rose for us to put your personal inscription in front of.

How do I select a rose?
There are many ways to select a rose for adoption. The best way is to visit the garden yourself and look for a suitable rose. If you do this, look for roses that have a plaque in front of them. You'll notice the plaques have a top part and a bottom part. The bottom area is where your inscription would go. If you see a rose you like but it already has an personal inscription, that means it is already adopted and is not available to you. Other ways of selecting rose include choosing from our limited on-line gallery, having us select one for you, or asking us to search our vast database for a certain variety, color, name, key word, or type of rose. The last option often results in us sending you a large list to peruse. We'll ask that you get back to use with 3-5 choices that we will then check on in the garden before we make the final selection. For example, if you want to honor someone who is an avid airplane pilot, we could search for roses with names associated with air planes, flight, sky, pilot, wings, etc. This does not always produce results, but it might be fun to try. In some cases, it might produce too many results!

How do I find my rose once I am in the garden?
Before visiting the garden, make sure you know the location of your rose (something like M-15-8). This was given to you when you originally adopted the rose and again during all subsequent renewals of the adoption. Let us know if you need a reminder...we can look it up. Once there, you'll notice the garden is divided into six sections: K, L, M, N, O, P. Rose locations are indicated using the following convention: M(section) - 15(row) - 8(position). First find your section. Then walk down the path checking the rows until you notice your row. Once in your row, walk down the aisle until you locate your rose's position.

What happens after my one year adoption expires?
In the month before your adoption expires, we will review your plant and plaque to make sure they are both looking good. We'll then send you a renewal notice. You can renew the adoption for $45 for another year, or even multiple years at a time.

Can I change my inscription or rose?
You can do this any time during your adoption, just let us know!

What happens if I do not renew my adoption?
If you choose not to renew, we will remove your personal inscription and make your rose available for adoption by someone else. We do archive all adoptions, so if you wanted to revive the same adoption at a later date, we could pull up the inscription and rose choice...though that same rose may no longer be available.

If I do not renew, can I have the personal inscription portion of the plaque?
Sure, we pull off your inscription and put up a blank, so it is easy for us to mail you the personalized bottom portion. In general it is pretty sticky from the tape and sometimes pretty weathered, but some people like to keep it as a keepsake.

What if my rose dies or my plaque needs repair?
No problem, we can select a new rose or make a new plaque any time. Since we have a small staff, we can only check on your rose specifically once a year before renewal time, but if we catch wind of a dead rose or broken plaque, we'll contact you to select a new rose. Or if it's the plaque, we'll just repair it right up. If you happen to visit and notice a problem with your rose or plaque, just let us know. We do our best to keep the roses healthy, but invariably, some die.

Is this donation tax-deductible?
For regular adoptions, the money is 100% tax deductible, and you will be sent the proper documentation to back that up. If you adopt a rose as part of our special Valentine's Day or Mother's Day promotions, then the full amount is not deductible because you receive some goods in exchange.

What are these special promotions at Valentine's Day or Mother's Day?
It's the same adoption program, except that during these promotions we offer special gift boxes full of various items, such as candy, soap, cards, potpourri, and more. During those times, you'll find more details on this very web page. Your donation for these special promotions is only partially tax deductible...the total donation amount minus the value of the gift package, which is usually about $12.