Fabulous rose gardens

Few flowers capture the imagination quite like roses. From formal gardens bursting with colour to quiet corners where rambling varieties climb over old stone walls, garden roses bring beauty, scent and structure to every space. We’ve picked six RHS Partner Gardens – free to RHS Members on selected days – with rose mazes, archways and displays that will enchant you.

Join the RHS and enjoy free access to more than 240 gardens in the UK and around the world at selected times >

Cusworth Hall Walled Garden, South Yorkshire

© Cusworth Hall

Radiant roses in full bloom brightening the gardens at Cusworth Hall

Take a stroll through this once-abandoned walled garden, now brimming with colour and scent from the many roses and pollinator-friendly

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.

• Free days out for RHS Members in 2026: When open
• Find out more at Cusworth Hall Walled Garden

Anglesey Abbey Gardens and Lode Mill, Cambridgeshire

© Issy Vetoshkina, National Trust

The rose garden has been extended thanks to a generous donation by David Austin Roses

This year, the much-loved rose garden at Anglesey Abbey Gardens and Lode Mill is more spectacular than ever, with 20 new beds and 180 glorious English roses planted in 2024 – each one chosen for its colour, abundance of flowers and resilience. Wander through waves of colour and scent and discover stories unearthed from the garden’s past. The roses flower from late June until early October, so there is plenty of time to enjoy them.

• Free days out for RHS Members in 2026: Open daily, excluding 24 and 25 December
• Find out more at Anglesey Abbey Gardens and Lode Mill

Waterperry Gardens, Oxfordshire

© Waterperry Gardens

Visitors to Waterperry Gardens can observe creative methods for training roses

Meander through the stunning Mary Rose Garden at Waterperry, where beds brim with colour and wonderfully scented plants that are at their best throughout June. The gardens showcase

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.

• Free days out for RHS Members in 2026: Wednesday only, plus when open in November
• Find out more at Waterperry Gardens

Goldstone Hall Hotel & Gardens, Shropshire

© Julia Stanley

 At Goldstone Hall Hotel, an extensive walled garden is overlooked by a romantic Rose Terrace

The beautiful climbing rose arch, nestled within the historic walled garden at Goldstone Hall Hotel & Gardens, is a true delight for garden lovers. This tranquil retreat features a long double herbaceous border, now enriched with newly planted climbing and rambling roses that will come into their own this summer, making it an exciting time to visit.

• Free days out for RHS Members in 2026: Monday – Thursday, 23 March – 30 October
• Find out more at Goldstone Hall Hotel *=& Gardens

Backhouse Rossie Estate, Fife

© Caroline Thomson, Backhouse Rossie

Running east to west, the garden features the longest uninterrupted rose archway in Scotland

Stroll under Scotland’s longest scented rose archway, which winds along a unique DNA Pathway with a central flower bed made from cathedral rose window stone. The historic walled garden at Backhouse Rossie Estate is themed around art and science, and offers the opportunity to take a step back and relax among changing seasonal plantings.

• Free days out for RHS Members in 2026: Thursday – Friday, April – September
• Find out more at Backhouse Rossie Estate

Jardin du Château d’Ainay-le-Vieil, France

In front of the Renaissance pavilions, the rose garden offers a mix of colours and perfumes

The rose gardens of Jardin du Château d’Ainay-le-Vieil in France are set within a series of enclosed spaces, each designed to highlight different styles and varieties. Surrounded by water and medieval stonework, historic roses are grown alongside modern cultivars, all carefully chosen for their resilience as well as shapes and fragrance. This thoughtful design makes the garden as informative as it is beautiful – a living showcase of rose heritage in a striking historic setting.

• Free days out for RHS Members in 2026: 28 March – 27 September, when open
• Find out more at Jardin du Château d’Ainay-le-Vieil