MOTTISFONT is set for its spectacular world famous rose season in early summer.
The walled garden will be filled with fragrance and colour from thousands of roses at The National Trust property, home to the National Collection of pre-1900 old-fashioned roses, which reach their peak in June.
Unlike modern species, old-fashioned roses tend to flower just once a year, so their blooming season is an extraordinary annual sight, attracting thousands of visitors.
Mottisfont is offering extended opening hours on some evenings during June, giving you more opportunities to enjoy these spectacular flowers.
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On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, the gardens will be open until 8pm with live jazz from the FB Pocket Orchestra on some evenings.
“As Mottisfont’s new Head Gardener, I’m really excited to experience rose season for the first time,” says Tina Chillingworth.
“I’m waiting in anticipation for the rose gardens to reveal their array of bright colours and bouquets. The team have meticulously pruned and tied in five hundred roses and nurtured their progress through a year of challenging weather conditions. We look forward to welcoming all visitors in sharing our enjoyment of the sensory rose garden experience. Personally, I feel the early mornings and evenings offer the most captivating moments, so I encourage visitors to take advantage of our late opening times!"
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Over 500 varieties of rose bloom in Mottisfont’s walled gardens, including Rosa ‘Souvenir de la Malmaison’ – a sumptuous pale pink bourbon rose inspired by the Empress Josephine’s famous garden – and delicate China and tea roses in shades of cream, pink and red.
Ancient varieties include Rosa ‘Gallica Officinalis’, a light crimson and deeply scented shrub brought to England from Persia by the Crusaders, and the highly scented ‘Quatre Saisons’, an autumn damask which was grown by the Romans.
The rose gardens were created by Graham Stuart Thomas - one of the most important figures in 20th-century British horticulture - in the 1970s. Mottisfont’s walled gardens were chosen to house many varieties of rose that may otherwise have been lost.
Visit nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/hampshire/mottisfont
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