Rose Garden

A stone walkway leades to a small bench among garden beds of yellow, pink, and green plants with large water fountain streams seen in the background
District
Main Fountain Garden District
Style
Intimate, Seasonal, Textured
Best Seasons to Visit
Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn
Scale
0.27 Acres

Meet us in the Rose Garden, where tradition and history mingle with a formal yet modern approach to garden design. Striking colors, heady fragrances, and soft textures bud, bloom, and sway harmoniously from spring through fall, providing countless ways to celebrate the rose— and her many beautiful friends.

About This Garden

Colorful and soft, with elements of structure provided by the central ellipse surrounded by low-growing yews, our Rose Garden inspires curiosity and contemplation. 

From fragrant hybrid teas to prolific floribundas, each week there’s a new reason to look more closely at the (very intentionally) planned beds. As the seasons evolve, a mix of perennials, grasses, small trees, shrubs, and evergreens provide a continuous color story together with the garden’s namesake. Look for founder Pierre S. du Pont’s (1870–1954) beloved Rosa ‘Direktor Benschop’ City of York climbing rose and the vibrant R. 'Harpageant' Easy Does It™ alongside lupines, astilbe, and fennel.

Stroll Through The Seasons

A pink rose part of a larger rose bush sits outside during the rain
A large bush of blooming yellow roses is seen over a green hedge with water fountain streams seeing in the background
A stone walkway leades to a small bench among garden beds of yellow, pink, and green plants with large water fountain streams seen in the background
A wide shows the outdoor Rose Garden filled with green plants under a bright sun and blue sky
Sun shines on a collection of red, green, and yellow shrubs and other plants in a garden bed along a stone walkway outside
Empty brown branches of a rose bush with snow and ice hanging off the edges
Snow sits atop a stone wall and arched empty rose bush branches

A Bit Of History

Nestled adjacent to our Topiary Garden and overlooking our Main Fountain Garden, the Rose Garden was first planted by Pierre in the spring of 1938, making it one of the last gardens added during his lifetime. He planned a series of rectangular beds, each planted with a single variety of rose and surrounded by flagstone walks and turf lawns. Yew trees were planted on either side of the walk to frame views into the Main Fountain Garden. While not an avid collector of roses, Pierre insisted on excellence in the selection and installation of some of history’s most beautiful varieties. One of the original hybrid teas was named for his wife, Alice: the ‘Mrs. Pierre S. du Pont.’ 

In 2019, our team embarked on a redesign of the Rose Garden to foster a sense of connection with adjacent gardens that would encourage lingering and exploration. Alongside its roses, we added a diverse, longer-blooming assortment of annuals, perennials, and grasses to ensure four seasons of beauty. We also looked to archival, early-20th-century photographs, with Pierre’s hand-chosen yews framing the garden’s axis into the Main Fountain Garden. Inspired by the space’s early structure, and in an echo of our Topiary Garden’s plantings, we punctuated the Rose Garden’s renovation with a new collection of yews. 

From Our Blog

plants in black containers on a bed of soil

Our Evolving Rose Garden

By Judy Stevenson, on June 22, 2020