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Garden Name: Gardens of the Rose
Last Modified: 09/02/2010
Garden ID: 0185

pic: 0185_GardensRose.jpg

Owner: Roz Hamilton
Address:
Chiswell Green
St. Albans
Hertfordshire
Postcode: AL2 3NR
County: Hertfordshire

tel: 01727-850461 and 
0845 833 4344
fax: 01727 850 360
website: www.rnrs.org.uk
email: info {at} rnrsorg

Features: 


English Heritage Grade:


Opening Times:
Due to unforeseen circumstances the gardens, sadly, will not be open in 2010. We hope for a better turn of events in 2011.

Best Times of Year to Visit: 


To see: 


National Collection: 
Roses

National Garden Scheme days: No
Comments: 

Parties / Coaches: Yes 
Comments: 

Viewing by Appointment: Yes
Comments: Preferable but not essential 

House Open for Viewing: No
Comments: 

Admission Prices:
(Adult £5; Children under 16 free with adult; Parties of 20+ £4 pp; Season tickets, single £15, double £25
RNRS members free.)

Parking: Yes
Lavatories: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Shop: No
Plants for Sale: Yes
Lunches: Yes
Teas: Yes
Refreshments: Yes
Picnics: Yes
Dogs allowed: Yes
Only on Lead: Yes
Events: Yes

Other Facilities:



Designer: Michael Balston
Description of Garden:
The Gardens as currently developed, cover more than five acres. Work started in September 2005. The plans, so far, include some 8,000 roses in approximately 2,000 different varieties - a veritable 'living dictionary of roses'. Visitors arrive along the curved President's Walk, which leads from the entrance circle towards the central pergola and ponds. The roses on either side are grouped by colour, ranging from whites to strong reds. Most are popular cultivars and readily available.

The elliptical steel pergola, some 200 metres in length, is undoubtedly the most striking feature of the new gardens. It replaces the much-loved brick and timber semi-circle, dating from the 1950s, which had become unstable. There are 72 arches. Each of the arches is planted with a different pair of roses. Clematis and other flowering climbers are being added as the roses become established.

The old Queen Mother Garden is now enhanced by a long vista and a striking new brick and wood pergola adjoining The Maze. The roses planted here were favourites of H.M. the Queen Mother, Patron of the Royal National Rose Society (1965 - 2001), and grew in her own gardens. They include the blue-purple Bourbon rose 'Reine des Violettes'.

A recent legacy to the Society stipulated that it should be spent on a feature for children. The turf maze, designed by Adrian Fisher, is the result. It has the shape of a stylised Tudor rose, for many years the symbol of the RNRS. 


History: 
The gardens were recently re-built by Adam Frost Landscapes. Recent re-planting was by members of the Board of Directors with the help of the garden team. The roses forming the History of the Rose Collections come from all over the world. They are a living illustration of the development of roses and rose-breeding trends, past and present. The beds trace the development of rose breeding, following along the broad grass walk, from the Albas and Gallicas by the species border through to the more modern Hybrid Teas and Floribundas by the Presidents' Walk. They include examples of rare roses, bred in Britain but lost to cultivation here, which the Historic Roses Group of the Society has recently reintroduced from abroad.

Local Inns: 
Black Lion Inn

Accomodation: 
St. Michael Manor, St. Albans
Sopwell House

Restaurants: 
Magnolia Conservatory

Village/Town/Sightseeing: