The Best Rose Gardens in the World
Rose gardens are a specialised garden type with their own visiting season — most peak between mid-May and early July, with a smaller flush in September for repeat-flowering varieties. The best combine taxonomic breadth (thousands of cultivars) with garden design that displays roses in context, not just rows.
Coloma Castle Rose Garden, Belgium
Around 3,000 varieties of rose — the largest collection on the European continent. Peak: June.
Mottisfont Abbey, Hampshire
The National Collection of pre-1900 shrub roses — around 400 varieties. The walled garden was redesigned by Graham Stuart Thomas in the 1970s and remains the supreme English rose collection.
Roseraie du Val-de-Marne, L'Haÿ-les-Roses
Founded 1894 by Jules Gravereaux, the first modern rose garden in the world. Around 3,200 species and varieties.
Europa-Rosarium, Sangerhausen, Germany
The world's largest rose collection by number of taxa: around 8,300 varieties on 12.5 hectares. Founded 1903.
Portland International Rose Test Garden, Oregon
The oldest continuously operating public rose test garden in the United States (1917). Around 10,000 plants of 650 varieties on Washington Park slopes.
Hyde Hall Rose Garden, Essex
The RHS rose garden, redesigned 2020, with a focus on disease-resistant modern shrub roses suitable for low-input contemporary planting.
Doha Rose Garden, Qatar
One of the world's largest desert rose gardens, demonstrating that rose growing is possible in extreme conditions with adequate water management.
Cranford Rose Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden
The largest American rose garden by curated extent, with around 5,000 plants of 1,400 varieties.
International Rose Garden Genoa
An open-air garden of around 5,000 plants on the Genoese hills, with particularly strong tea and noisette collections.
Rosenneuheitengarten, Baden-Baden
The trial garden where new rose introductions are tested under European conditions — the unofficial seat of European rose breeding.
Explore on the map
All of the gardens mentioned in this article are pinned on the interactive map. Use it to plan a route, group nearby sites into a single trip, or compare gardens by style and season.