Foley, Ala. — In recent years Saturday mornings have been lost to cartoons and errands; it’s time to stop and smell the roses.

The City of Foley saw that need in the community, and with that, the Foley Rose Trail was born.

“It was a vision that got started with our city administrator, Perry Wilbourne, and Bill Goodwin, the city horticulturist,” said Rick Majors, a gardener for the City of Foley’s Parks Department.

While the trail is in its third season, recently the community has been giving the city extra attention for the attraction.

Majors said that the walk started with a few heirloom rose bushes.

“Both of us raise roses,” said Wilbourne, speaking about Goodwin and himself. “We are interested in old roses.”

Wilbourne explained that old roses are bushes dated before 1867, and have not been hybridized. Hybrid bushes have brighter blooms, but are weaker.

Old roses are resilient, but have a paler color. Wilbourne said that roses planted in Mobile prior to the Civil War are still beautiful and still healthy. These roses are the most prevalent in the Foley Rose Trail.

Special types of roses that where hand picked to line the trail include Buck Roses, Clarke Roses and Veru Roses.

A unique rose bush in the trail is one that holds the first U. S. patent for plants.

The trail stretches north from Heritage Park to the Justice Center and south between Myrtle and Orange avenues, both on the east side of Hwy. 59.

Majors said that a lot of effort and work went into planting the trail and still does for now maintaining the roses. Wilbourne estimated that there are about 500 rose bushes lining the trail.

“We’ve had a lot of help from the Master Gardeners,” said Majors.

Currently the roses are at the end of a bloom, but Majors said that within the next three or four weeks the bushes will bloom again. He also said that there should be a fresh bloom one more time in the summer, and then again in the fall.

Future plans for the trail entail moving a collection of about a 100 bushes from a residency to the trail.

The bushes are coming from a local woman who has asked the city to relocate her late husband’s roses. Currently the city goes to her home and cares for the roses. Wilbourne said that they will move them once the weather cools off in the Fall.