Who We Are
Voices of the Roses, a non-profit organization, was established to raise funds needed to increase the ongoing attention that is essential in beautifying and maintaining the Lyndale Park Rose Garden
for future generations to enjoy. Our working agreement with the Minneapolis Parks Foundation, an independent donor-supported nonprofit organization, allows your donation to be tax deductible. Acting as our fiscal agent, the Minneapolis Parks Foundation will oversee, manage, and distribute donations according to Voices of the Roses' contract with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.
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Executive Director - Linda Johnson
Linda Johnson was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. She was in the first class of females to graduate from Breck School and proceeded to graduate from Princeton University as a young adult.
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Linda's first exposure to roses was when she and her family went to the Lyndale Park Rose Garden. She recalls the gardens being beautiful and brimming with multi-colored roses with a variety of fragrances that all seemed magical to her! It was in those gardens that she came to understand that something other than vegetables could be grown in our climate. "I saw pink roses; yellow, red, purple, white, orange and mixed varieties as well - every rose had its own fragrance! As an I adult I began growing my own roses solely because of my experience at the Lyndale Park Rose Garden."
After graduating from college, Linda worked on the east and west coasts of the U.S. yet she wanted to come back to Minneapolis because of the many lakes (and thunderstorms!). When she moved back to Minneapolis in 2005, Linda visited her beloved Lyndale Park Rose Garden however, it no longer resembled the one she remembered from her youth.
Due to the size of the gardens and not enough funding, the Lyndale Park Rose Garden did not have a full time staff to keep up with its proper maintenance requirements. Linda could see that raising funds for (ideally) 5 interns, would be essential in overseeing the many needs of the roses and to sustain their vitality for the public to continue learning from and enjoying. "Roses do not grow wild - they need to be maintained!"
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In hopes to remedy the on-going needs of the rose garden, Linda Johnson established Voices of the Roses in the autumn of 2017. By early summer 2018, she received the approval from the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board to raise funds to aid in maintaining and beautifying the Lyndale Park Rose Garden.
