Rose month at Hidcote

The complete Rose guide

You could find out even more about the famous flower each Thursday afternoon by joining one of a series of talks on the history of roses, the care of roses and companion planting.

The four history talks throughout the month will uncover the glorious past of the rose and will also include a guided walk around the garden.

The talks will give insight into how to care for roses, what the best methods for pruning are and how to keep them healthy, amongst other top tips.

Whilst the tops of roses are luxurious and tender, the bottoms can be spindly and unappealing. Come along to find out which companion plants are best to cover the bare legs.

Spaces are limited for these events so please book your free tickets in advance. Your ticket will allow you to attend all three talks. 

One of our Gardeners, Vicky Summers, explains what roses meant to our creator Lawrence Johnston:

“From our historic plant records and Lawrence Johnston’s own notebooks and his diaries, it is clear he embraced the rose in all its forms.  During your visit, you will find roses planted in all parts of the garden at Hidcote, even into the Village, this is Johnston’s legacy.”                                                                                                                                                                           

Going on a Rose hunt...

The Fuchsia Garden

Created during the first phase of the garden between 1907 and 1914, where Lawrence Johnston first created a Rose Garden at Hidcote.

The Pillars

The second rose garden at Hidcote was created in the third phase of the garden's development in 1923 with the help of Lawrence Johnston’s newly appointed and only professional gardener, Frank Adams.

Long Borders

Vita Sackville-West spoke of the roses in the Long Borders in the 1930's: 

"Let me merely review the memory of that June day and the loaded air, the bushes weeping to the ground with the weight of their own bloom, a rumpus of colour, a drunkenness of scents.’

Our top 15 Roses of Hidcote can also be found delighting the Old Garden, Courtyard, Italian Shelter, Bathing Pool, Maple Garden and even the Wall of Winthrop’s café.

Spotlight on Roses - A quick summary of our favourites

Rosa Versicolor

The Long Borders

Gallicas are the oldest of garden roses and their influence is present, at least in some small degree, in nearly all our garden roses of today.

A Shrub rose, with an intense scent packed with 200 colourful petals. Rosa mundi is apparently also the rose depicted in the painting 'The Virgin Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child' by Sandro Botticelli in 1485.

Rosa Buff Beauty

The Old Garden

'Buff Beauty' is a well-balanced, arching shrub rose with a rounded habit. The rose blooms repeatedly throughout the summer and into autumn producing large clusters of double, cupped flowers of buff yellow to apricot which pale to primrose.

This rose is a vigorous grower which will thrive on most well drained soils. It has good disease resistance and is very versatile, it can be grown in beds and borders, as a hedge, up a pergola or against a wall or trellis.

Rosa 'Paul's Himalayan Musk'

Maple Garden

This climber rose is sweetly scented, best to grow through a tree and extremely rampant. Make sure you look up when you are in the Maple Garden to see the rose growing through the trees. It is good in both sun and shade, flowers in June/July and is not repeat flowering. Its wild origins are uncertain but are suspected to lie in the Western Himalayas.