Last year I had a bit of time on my hands so that meant I did a lot of reading and researching of places that I wanted to visit one day…one spot that tickled my fancy was the David Austin Rose Garden in Shropshire and I knew as soon as the roses were in bloom that I needed to visit. The sweet English Rose perfume greets you as soon as you enter the property…roses, sweet peas, mint and geraniums are my favourite scents of summer from the garden.
On entering the David Austin Rose Garden, I said to G “isn’t the fragrance from the roses just gorgeous”…G’s typical male response, “can’t smell a thing”…bloomin’ typical!
If you don’t like roses then you may want to give this post a miss…as guess what?!? it’s blooming with rosy goodness!
I’ve never ventured into growing roses in my own garden before as I prefer plants that are easy to grow and flower on demand (hello dahlias how I love thee…check out the Dahlia Festival at Anglesey Abbey if you fancy some inspiration!)...roses just feel a bit too complicated for a novice like myself.
After this visit to the David Austin Rose Garden, I’m determined to give my green thumb a work out as I now have more of an idea on what type of rose I would like to start with…the gardens are a catalogue of all the roses available for purchase (there are signs under each rose…they have made the buying process rather easy!).
^^This is the rose that G and I both loved.
Every day is a school day as I had no idea that there were so many different bloom styles available from single…
…semi double…
…hybrid tea, open cup, shallow cup, deep cup, incurved, recurved, quartered rosette, rosette, pom pom and…
..the button eye which I personally love.
So those were the bloom styles and then there are the different types of roses…wild roses…
…English shrub roses, old roses, patio roses, ground cover roses, standard roses…
…English climbing roses…
…English rambling roses…
…I was pretty much confused at this point.
Pick up a catalogue when you’re visiting the gardens as I have found this invaluable as it guides you towards roses for certain areas of your garden; the abundantly flowering roses and the blooms with the best fragrance…you almost need a spreadsheet to cross reference everything!
Even if you don’t fancy gardening, the David Austin Rose Garden is a real treat for the senses…the colours and fragrance are just delightful…
…I may have matched my bag to the surroundings…completely unintentionally you understand…it holds the most amount of rubbish of all my bags at present especially when G decides all his bits and pieces need to go inside as well.
There are a number of different areas of the garden to take inspiration from…
…yes of course I want this is my back garden now…who wouldn’t right?!?
Now it’s not just all about roses…
…there is an area of the garden with other beautiful flowers which work well with roses for a bit of pick ‘n mix inspiration.
^^I need this plant in my life…any ideas on what it’s called?
The gardens are free to visit so embrace the English Rose perfume…don’t rush your visit…
…wander…enjoy…
…and quite literally just smell the roses!
Travel Tips for the David Austin Rose Garden: English Rose Perfume Perfection, Shropshire
- It is free to visit the gardens and are signposted from the main road
- There is adequate car parking and an overfill car park is also available…the carpark is busy on the weekend
- We tried to arrive as early as possible but the gardens were still rather busy…there was a tour group from China who were loving the gardens; their enthusiasm and sassy selfies with the roses made me smile enormously.
- We visited the gardens mid June when the roses were at their best.
- There is a great gift shop and you can buy the roses you see in the gardens from the plant shop…there is a small cafe with sarnies and also a restaurant which offers afternoon tea…we didn’t stay for afternoon tea unfortunately, gutted as I’ve heard it’s really good.
- Shropshire is a great county to explore and I would recommend visiting Shrewsbury, Ironbridge and Bridgnorth if you’re in the area.
- We stayed at the Holiday Inn at Walsall Jct 10 which was about a 20 minute drive away…our room was £38 for the night.
- The address for David Austin Rose Garden is Bowling Green Ln, Wolverhampton WV7 3HB
- You can learn more about the gardens by clicking here
xx
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