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Best places to see rose gardens

Visitor taking photographs at Coughton Court, Warwickshire
Visitor taking photographs at Coughton Court, Warwickshire | © National Trust Images/Bill Alloway

Summer is a great time to visit the gardens we look after, when many become filled with blooming roses in shades of pink, red, yellow and orange. Whether they've been brought together in a formal rose garden or planted as accents throughout the grounds, find out where to go to see the best rose gardens at National Trust places.

Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire
From early June right through to October the rose garden produces a vibrant display of 40 different varieties of David Austin rose, and you can take in their wonderful scent as you wander along the paths. The current scheme was completed in 1939 and remains the same to this day.Visit Anglesey Abbey
Antony, Cornwall
Roses are a key part of the garden at Antony, providing colour and fragrance from early summer through the warmer months. You can even see the snowy white ‘iceberg’ variety flowering through to Christmas if the conditions are right.Visit Antony
Barrington Court, Somerset
Barrington Court’s main rose garden was designed by famous horticulturalist Gertrude Jekyll in the 1920s. The beds were refreshed in 2017 following her original scheme, and you can see how the new plants make a fantastic display in the summer months.Visit Barrington Court
Bodnant Garden, Conwy
Explore Bodnant’s Italianate Terraces in summer and you’ll find yourself surrounded by over 1,500 show-stopping rose blooms. Enjoy sweeping views of the Carneddau mountains as you breathe in their heady scent.Visit Bodnant Garden
Chartwell, Kent
Wander through the Golden Rose Avenue at Chartwell, which features 50 varieties of rose and over 400 individual blooms. In 2023, the gardeners are planting a Bride and Groom rose to celebrate 115 years since Winston and Clementine Churchill were married.Visit Chartwell
Cliveden, Buckinghamshire
Cliveden's rose garden features over 900 repeat flowering roses in shades of red, orange and yellow. Reinstated in 2014 based on a 1950s design by Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe, you can enjoy them in bloom from late May until September.Visit Cliveden
Compton Castle, Devon
Head through an archway in the castle wall and you'll find yourself surrounded by a show-stopping display of roses. The air here is full of fragrance, especially on a warm summer's day.Visit Compton Castle
Visitors exploring the garden at Nostell Priory and Parkland, West Yorkshire
Visitors exploring the garden at Nostell Priory and Parkland, West Yorkshire | © National Trust Images/John Millar
Coughton Court, Warwickshire
Containing over 200 different varieties of rose, the Throckmorton family rose garden at Coughton Court is recognised as one of the finest in the world and is one of the best rose gardens you can visit. It received the Award of Garden Excellence from The World Federation of Rose Societies in 2006 – the first British garden to have done so.Visit Coughton Court
Dunham Massey, Greater Manchester
Stroll through the garden at Dunham Massey and you'll discover hundreds of varieties of rose including Rosa 'Stamford’s sanctuary', named after Dunham’s role as Stamford Military Hospital during the First World War.Visit Dunham Massey
Emmetts Garden, Kent
Explore the romantic, Italianate rose garden at Emmetts, which was created by Frederic Lubbock, a banker and passionate plantsman. He bought the property in 1893 and had the rose garden designed especially for his wife.Visit Emmetts Garden
Greys Court, Oxfordshire
Greys Court is full of wonderful sights and scents as the roses come into bloom throughout June. The rose garden traces the history of the rose from the early damask varieties to the modern hybrid perennials.Visit Greys Court
Gunby Hall and Gardens, Lincolnshire
There are many roses on display throughout the summer months at Gunby Hall and Gardens, which feature throughout the kitchen garden, East lawn and front garden. The gardens now hold more than 50 varieties of these popular petals.Visit Gunby
Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
The muted, pastel shades and often beguiling scent of roses are a joy to behold in June. Roses played an integral part of the life of Duchess Evelyn, the Last Lady of Hardwick. As a keen and knowledgeable gardener, she would have originally introduced roses to this area.Visit Hardwick Hall
Hinton Ampner, Hampshire
Over 100 rose varieties bloom each summer at Hinton Ampner and the borders are designed so that the most fragrant roses are planted close to the path that you walk along. Take the rose trail that guides you to the different varieties planted by former owner Ralph Dutton, and Hinton’s garden team.Visit Hinton Ampner
Morden Hall Park, London
Spot 40 different varieties of rose in the garden at Morden Hall. There are roses in many shades from pink and yellow to bright white – the best time to see roses in the garden is from May until late summer. Each has its own unique name, with varieties including Rosa Macmillan Nurse and Rosa The Fairy.Visit Morden Hall Park
Mottisfont, Hampshire
Step into the garden at Mottisfont and be met with unsurpassed fragrance and colour from over 500 varieties of world-famous roses blooming in the walled garden. From 1 to 30 June 2023, the gardens are open until 8pm from Thursday to Saturday, so you can enjoy one of the best rose gardens well into the evening.Visit Mottisfont
A gardener pushes a wheelbarrow down a path in the rose garden in June at Mottisfont, Hampshire, with Rosa 'Adélaïde d'Orléans' on the arches, yew topiary pillars and low box hedges
The rose garden in June at Mottisfont, Hampshire, with Rosa 'Adélaïde d'Orléans' on the arches, yew topiary pillars and low box hedges | © National Trust Images/Jonathan Buckley
Nymans, Sussex
The rose garden at Nymans is teaming with delicate blooms and densely-petalled clusters. And you can make the most of the long summer evenings and experience the roses in a whole new light every Friday in June and July with summer lates at Nymans.Visit Nymans
Peckover House and Garden, Cambridgeshire
Many of the roses at Peckover have been growing in the garden for years and still create a beautiful display around June and July – some even bloom through to late autumn. The roses here are grown as shrubs, wall climbers and on obelisks, so it's easy to lean in and enjoy their fragrance.Visit Peckover House and Garden
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
Take in the glorious views across the rolling Surrey Hills from Polesden Lacey, framed by Edwardian rambling roses, shrub roses adorning the borders and climbing roses decorating the pergolas at one of the best rose gardens to visit.Visit Polesden Lacey
Powis Castle, Powys
Roses are abundant at Powis Castle, with hundreds of varieties waiting to be discovered. Look for them growing on hoops, tumbling at the feet of classical statues and overflowing from the borders.Visit Powis Castle
Red House, London
Roses are central to the origins Red House and there are plenty to see when you visit. After all, it was Philip Webb and William Morris who decided the countryside idyll should be ‘clothed’ in this traditional climber when they designed the property.Visit Red House
Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Kent
Vita Sackville-West, poet and writer, lived at Sissinghurst in the 1930s with her husband Harold Nicolson. They transformed the gardens with abundant planting, reflecting the romance in Sackville-West's work.Visit Sissinghurst
Speke Hall, Liverpool
Roses would have flowered around the black-and-white house at Speke Hall in Tudor times, and you can still find these traditional blooms in the Rose Garden off the South Lawn today.Visit Speke Hall
The Argory, County Armagh
Nestled in a wooded estate beside the River Blackwater, The Argory has a charming rose garden to stroll through, with dwarf rose bushes in box-edged beds surrounding a striking sundial.Visit The Argory
Tyntesfield, Somerset
The rose garden at Tyntesfield is great for quiet contemplation. Plan a visit to see the restored flower beds at one of the best rose gardens in our care.Visit Tyntesfield
Wightwick, West Midlands
The Arts and Crafts movement influenced the planting of Wightwick's garden, and classic English plants such as the rose feature throughout. You can spot several rose varieties in the borders, lawns and the formal rose garden.Visit Wightwick
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