By Teresa Williams

Times-Enterprise correspondent

THOMASVILLE — As the annual Thomasville Rose Show and Festival unfurls this week, those involved with the event hope attendees will also take a few moments to stop and smell the roses.

The City of Thomasville Rose Garden is located by Cherokee Lake, off Covington Avenue. Though the garden is a permanent resident, officials say it is still an important part of the festival and city.

“The peaceful, natural beauty of the site is a delight for the senses, and it looks different almost daily while the roses are in bloom,” Karen Smith, executive director of Main Street & Tourism, said. “It is the one place people can come to see numerous species of roses in one location. Also, it demonstrates our commitment to an annual festival that this year celebrates 95 years.”

The garden, too, is one shining example of why Thomasville was designated Georgia’s Rose City this past January by the Georgia General Assembly. The City of Thomasville Rose Garden has been around since 1995.

“After the Hjort Rose Test Gardens closed in 1994, our city leaders felt that since Thomasville was known as ‘The City of Roses,’ it was fitting that we should have a rose garden,” Smith said. “Former Mayor Camille Payne, who believed in community beautification, was instrumental in rallying forces to make this happen.”

Marge Willis, who was president of Thomasville Garden Club Inc. from 1995 to 1997 and is a current member of Briarcliff Garden Club, said when Hjort announced he was retiring and closing his business, “the city, community and businesses rallied together to create this beautiful garden.”

The garden has more than 1,500 rose bushes. Each rose bed has a unique theme and is filled with a variety of blooms. Current themes include: Heroes, Holidays, Love & Cherish, Famous People, Assorted Varietals and Memorials.

“The themed beds evolved over time,” Smith said. “They were first based on what had already been planted. Later, they became more focused and additional themes were added.”

Names of roses in the garden include: “Let Freedom Ring,” “Cinco De Mayo,” “Over the Moon,” “Judy Garland,” and “Yabba Dabba Do.”

The “memory bed” is home to roses donated by citizens in memory of loved ones. It was one of the garden’s first themed beds, Smith said, and is still active today.

The garden’s upkeep is maintained by the City of Thomasville Landscape Department.

A recent addition to the rose garden is a living topiary, “a whimsical teapot” according to Smith.

“The hopes are to continue to add topiaries over the next four years resulting in a complete garden by the 100th Rose Festival celebration,” she explains. “The topiary garden will add interest and attract more visitors and citizens to the garden.”

The garden is an attraction that visitors from far and wide want to see, Smith said. She hopes the garden will continue to grow and be a place people want to visit.

“It is my hope that we continue the development of the garden, making it a showplace year round for the community and visitors,” she said.

Willis said, being ‘The City of Roses,’ Thomasville “is fortunate to have such a beautiful setting as the rose garden.”

“It is a place where families and visitors can enjoy being surrounded by God’s beauty and can stop to smell the roses,” she said.

Local family Xavier and Meagan Rodriguez with children Avery and Kallen stopped to do just that when they visited Cherokee Lake Wednesday.

“They were really beautiful,” Avery Rodriguez said of the blooms.

His younger brother Kallen sniffed some blooms, too, and said, “them smell, like, good!”

The annual Thomasville Rose Show and Festival kicks off Thursday with the Rose Bud Parade, and a variety of activities will take place through Saturday.