Historic Gardens and Property Now Under the Stewardship of the new American Rose Center Nonprofit Corporation
SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA — The American Rose Center announces the completion of the separation of the American
Rose Society and the American Rose Center, marking the beginning of an exciting new chapter for one of the Shreveport
area’s most treasured places, the Gardens of the American Rose Center. The Gardens and associated property are now owned and operated by the American Rose Center, an independent nonprofit corporation established to preserve, enhance and guide the future of this remarkable community resource.
For more than 50 years, the American Rose Society made the property its national home and headquarters. The Gardens
opened to the public in 1975 and were expanded and improved and buildings were added over the decades. As the Society’s
mission evolved, its leaders recognized the benefits of separating the organization from the property.
Longtime supporters of the Gardens and community leaders seized the opportunity to keep the gardens alive! They formed
a new nonprofit corporation on November 20, 2025, engaged a small staff and new Board of Directors, and have operated
the gardens throughout 2026 while awaiting completion of the legal separation. That day has arrived!
The American Rose Society will continue its important national mission of promoting the culture, preservation, and appreciation
of the rose and serving rose growers and enthusiasts throughout the country. The ARS staff will continue the work
of the Society in offices on the property.
The new American Rose Center will concentrate exclusively on the Gardens—their preservation, horticulture, education,
conservation, programs, events, facilities, and their role as a welcoming public garden for the community and its visitors.
And the Gardens, also known as “America’s Rose Garden,” will continue to celebrate the Rose, America’s national floral
emblem.
“This is much more than a change in ownership,” said Quintin T. Hardtner IV, President and Chairman of the ARC Board
of Directors “It is an opportunity to ensure that these Gardens are preserved for future generations while allowing them to
grow into an even greater educational, cultural, horticultural, and community resource.”\
The American Rose Center’s mission is to preserve, enhance, and maintain an exceptional public botanic garden within a
beautiful and diverse landscape of trees, shrubs, and other plants. Fine architecture, garden sculpture and pavilions add to
the distinction of the property.
Through education, conservation, preservation, and excellence in horticulture, the Center seeks to inspire an appreciation of
plants, gardens, and the natural world while providing a welcoming place for people of all ages to learn, gather, celebrate,
and experience the beauty and restorative qualities of nature.
A Garden Belonging to the Community
The transfer represents something especially meaningful for Northwest Louisiana: the future of the Gardens will now be
directed by an independent nonprofit organization whose directors are local leaders, and whose purpose is the preservation
and advancement of the Gardens as a public resource.
The American Rose Center intends to build upon the extraordinary horticultural heritage already established on the property
while broadening the ways people experience the Gardens.
Visitors will continue to find the rose at the heart of the Gardens, complemented by the magnificent pine trees, other trees
and shrubs, seasonal plantings, walking paths, art and sculpture, educational opportunities, family activities, and special
events that make the property much more than a collection of plants.
The new American Rose Center enjoys partnerships with the national Heritage Rose Foundation, the Ark-La-Tex Herb
Society, the Northwest Louisiana Master Gardeners Association, LSU Ag Center, and the Gulf District of the American
Rose Society; and a few years ago, ARC partnered with area Lions Clubs in building a pavilion and access ramp in commemoration
of their Centennial. The Gardens are receptive to developing other partnerships throughout the community and
beyond—with schools, garden organizations, businesses, foundations, cultural organizations, and others who share a belief
in the importance of preserving beautiful public spaces.
Honoring its Past — Building its Future
The American Rose Center recognizes and celebrates the enormous contribution the American Rose Society, its members,
volunteers, donors, and leaders have made to the creation and development of the Gardens over five decades. That history
will always be part of the Gardens.
The separation does not erase that heritage. Rather, it provides both organizations with the opportunity to build upon it in
different ways—one continuing a national mission centered on the rose and its growers, and the other concentrating on the
future of the Gardens as a public horticultural, educational, cultural, and community institution.
For the American Rose Center, the message to the community is simple: The Gardens are here. The Gardens are yours to
enjoy. And the Gardens have an exciting future ahead.