Discover the best roses at RHS Gardens

Summer is here, and what better way to embrace the season than by strolling through a rose garden drinking in the sweet fragrance and vibrant blooms of the nation’s favourite flower.

From formal rose beds to contemporary companion planting and climate-resilient rose choices, our five RHS Gardens offer plenty of rose planting inspiration. Find out where to enjoy the best rose gardens near you...

RHS Garden Rosemoor, North Devon

Shrub Rose Garden at RHS Garden Rosemoor

Take a scented stroll around RHS Garden Rosemoor, home to one of the UK’s largest rose collections. Two dedicated gardens brim with more than 2,000 roses and at least 200 different cultivars. When the gardens were created in the early 1990s, it was an experiment to see if roses could thrive despite the warm, damp Devon climate, known to exacerbate fungal diseases such as black spot and rust. So disease resistance has always been top of the list when selecting roses – and it’s worked, RHS Rosemoor’s rose displays are among the very best.

In the Queen Mother’s Rose Garden, more than 100

A plant produced by crossing two distinct parents, often different species, to produce offspring that combine the characteristics of both. Hybrids can occur naturally, but crosses are often made deliberately by plant breeders to produce plants with better yield, improved flowering or vigour, or improved disease resistance.

A miniature garden or ecosystem contained within a glass or plastic container. If sealed, self-sustaining terrariums need very little to no maintenance. Small and slow-growing foliage plants, miniature ferns and mosses are great for sealed terrariums, and succulents and cacti for open terrariums. The first example of a terrarium was a Wardian Case, which helped plant collectors bring back and introduce new, exotic plants in the 19th century.

floribunda roses

RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Essex

Modern Rose Garden at RHS Garden Hyde Hall

Roses thrive in the heavy clay soil and open sunny skies at RHS Garden Hyde Hall. When the garden’s original owners, Helen and Dick Robinson, first created a rose garden here in the 1970s it quickly gained a reputation for its exceptional roses.

Today, the Modern Rose Garden is a showcase of formally grown English shrub roses. Six large colour-coordinated beds burst with modern cultivars in a rainbow of hues, from the warm salmon tones of Rosa LADY OF SHALOTT (‘Ausnyson’) to the cooler shades of cream-flowered Rosa LICHFIELD ANGEL (‘Ausrelate’) and pale lemon Rosa THE PILGRIM (‘Auswalker’). Their large flowers perfume the air with delicious fragrance and the unspoiled glossy foliage adds to their beauty – the rose garden’s hilltop location with its good air circulation helps reduce fungal diseases.

The collection of David Austin shrub roses reflects the achievements of modern rose breeding, combining the colour, form and fragrance of old English roses with improved disease resistance, vigour and repeat flowering. English climbing and smaller rambling roses scale up obelisks on the corners of each bed and include the popular Rosa MALVERN HILLS (‘Auscanary’). Beautifully scented and bushier Pemberton Roses, bred by the late Reverend Joseph Pemberton who developed hybrid musk roses at his nursery in Romford, fill three further beds.

The Rose Rope Walk, another cherished garden area created by Helen and Dick Robinson over 50 years ago, has undergone an exciting renovation. To ensure its longevity, the new design features a sturdy galvanised steel framework to replace the old wooden structures that have decayed over time and an all-weather pathway allows access for wheelchairs and buggies.

Planted in autumn 2025, the 48 new climbing and rambling roses have been selected for the conditions at RHS Hyde Hall. Roses grown on Rosa laxa rootstocks are suited to the heavy clay soil here, while vigorous cultivars with good resistance to pests and diseases were chosen to withstand wet winters and the stresses of dry hot summers. Repeat flowering rambler Rosa THE LADY OF THE LAKE (‘Ausherbert’) is a healthy and reliable perfomer. Its long flexible stems are easy to train and bear a profusion of peach-pink semi-double open flowers in summer and autumn that are a magnet for pollinators.

In the Shrub Rose Border, you’ll find a selection of shrub and species roses, including unusual and older varieties seldom grown today. Rosa xanthina ‘Canary Bird’ is a delightful cultivated form of the wild Manchu shrub rose

A native plant is one that originated or arrived naturally in a particular place without human involvement. In the British Isles, native plants are those that were here during the last ice age or have arrived unaided since.

RHS Garden Wisley, Surrey

Bowes-Lyon Rose Garden at RHS Garden Wisley

For a contemporary take on a rose garden, head to the Bowes-Lyon Rose Garden at RHS Garden Wisley. The impact of its 4,000 roses in flower is incredible, but the garden offers more than just roses. Some 5,000 herbaceous

Perennials are plants that live for multiple years. They come in all shapes and sizes and fill our gardens with colourful flowers and ornamental foliage. Many are hardy and can survive outdoors all year round, while less hardy types need protection over winter. The term herbaceous perennial is used to describe long-lived plants without a permanent woody structure (they die back to ground level each autumn), distinguishing them from trees, shrubs and sub-shrubs.

Gardeners often use the word variety when referring to a specific plant, but the correct botanical term is 'cultivar'. Whichever word you use, it means a distinctive plant or plants, given a specific cultivar name and usually bred to enhance certain characteristics, such as flower or fruit size, colour, flavour or fragrance, plant size, hardiness, disease resistance, etc. Additionally, it is worth knowing that, botanically, variety has another meaning - it refers to a naturally-occurring distinct plant that only has slight differences in its looks. For example, Malva alcea var. fastigiata differs from typical plants by having an upright habit.

cultivar

RHS Garden Harlow Carr, North Yorkshire

Rose borders and summer planting at RHS Garden Harlow Carr

Roses bring fabulous colour and scent to the borders at RHS Garden Harlow Carr. Nestled between the garden entrance and Learning Centre, more than 30 rose cultivars have been planted since November 2021, with a winding path allowing you to wander among the blooms and breathe in their exquisite fragrance.
 
Previous attempts to grow roses at RHS Harlow Carr have been mixed, with some varieties struggling in the garden’s damp conditions, which can promote the spread of fungal diseases such as black spot. With this in mind, Horticulturist Tom White, who designed the rose border, selected cultivars with good disease resistance and vigour, as well as perfume and repeat-flowering nature. The selection also includes cultivars with open flowers to attract pollinators and some that give a decorative display of rose hips in winter.
 
For maximum impact, the roses are planted in drifts of colour, from red and pink, through apricot, to yellow and white. Look out for favourites of Tom’s including rich burgundy Rosa DARCEY BUSSELL (‘Ausdecorum’) and the beautiful white tinged with pink Rosa DESDEMONA (‘Auskindling’). Cultivars that seem to thrive in the wetter Yorkshire climate include Rosa OLIVIA ROSE AUSTIN (‘Ausmixture’), producing an abundance of mid-pink flowers with a subtle fruity scent, and lovely orange Rosa LADY OF SHALOTT (‘Ausnyson’).

RHS Garden Bridgewater, Salford

Rosa ‘Veilchenblau’ in the Paradise Garden at RHS Garden Bridgewater

At RHS Garden Bridgewater, highly scented roses enhance the sensory appeal of the Paradise Garden. Inspired by their use in traditional paradise gardens, the heady scent of shrub, climbing and rambling roses helps transport you to warmer climes. Adorning the Paradise Garden walls, vigorous rambler Rosa ‘Veilchenblau’ is likely to catch your eye with its vivid violet flowers that fade to lilac as they age.

Head to the Bee and Butterfly Garden to find a selection of roses irresistible to pollinators. Roses with open flowers, such as pure white Rosa STARLIGHT SYMPHONY (‘Harwisdom’), offer easily accessible nectar to bees and other insects. Trained around the porch of Garden Cottage, the beautiful soft pink semi-double flowers of Rosa THE GENEROUS GARDENER (‘Ausdrawn’) open to expose its stamens to any pollinators passing by. There are other advantages to choosing single and semi-double flowered roses. In notoriously rainy areas like Greater Manchester, it’s best to avoid roses with lots of thin petals that may stick together and rot, or break under the weight of

Describes soil or potting compost that is saturated with water. The water displaces air from the spaces between soil particles and plant roots can literally drown, unless they are adapted to growing in waterlogged conditions. Waterlogging is common on poorly drained soil or when heavy soil is compacted.