The Hague Alpine Rose Park (also known as Rhodope Park) is a park open to the public in The Hague, Helsinki, which also serves as an experimental area for the selection of plants from the university. The park covers an area of eight hectares. The area is also known as Laajasuo Park. The Helsinki City Building Agency is responsible for the area.
The oldest alpine roses in the park were planted in a natural marsh in 1975, when corridors were also built in the area. The main routes in the park are available. Originally, 3000 alpine roses were planted in the area for research purposes. The aim was to create a variety adapted to the Finnish climate, with a variety of cultivation methods and colours. Evergreen alpine roses are located in the southern part of the park, while yellow alpine roses and azaleas are in the northern part. The azaleia area is an extension of the alpine rose plantations in the southern part of the park, and in 1996 about 1500 azaleia hybrids were planted, which started with the beginning of the azaleia breeding program in 1988. The alpine roses and azaleas flower in early June. Flowering usually ends after mid summer.
Construction of a forest garden in the Azalia region began in 2010. The bushes selected for the forest garden are, for example, azaleas, hydrangeas and other flowering shrubs. Eight alpine rose varieties have been selected for commercial production from the Alpine Rose Park experimental area; The Hague, University of Helsinki, St. Michael's, PMA Tigersted, Axel Tigersted, Pekka, Eino and Mauritz. Mother bushes of these varieties continue to grow in the park. A total of a dozen varieties have been selected for production from Alpine roses throughout the country and have been on sale since 1990.
