There is nothing more romantic than a rose and Scotland has some outstanding rose gardens that during summer are filled with flowers and scent. Many of these start to flourish in June and through July their beauty will unfold in waves of glorious petals.

To help you make the most of rose season, Discover Scottish Gardens has compiled a list of  the best gardens to visit while the flowers are in full bloom.

Crathes Castle

A centuries-old rose garden at Crathes Castle has been redesigned for the 21st century. Its now circular in shape, with curved seats, protected by rose-covered arbours, set around a central water feature. The entire garden is edged with lavender and the scent is contained by surrounding 300-year-old yew hedges. 

The rose garden is one of eight ‘rooms’ in this internationally-renowned garden, which has some of the finest flower borders in the country.

• Open daily, 10am – 5pm
• Crathes Castle, Banchory, Aberdeenshire AB31 5QH
• www.nts.org.uk

Drum Castle

Drum Castle’s walled garden contains a collection of historic roses. Unlike modern varieties, which bloom well into autumn, old roses bloom only in summer, yet their beauty is all the more prized for this fleeting appearance. Many are highly scented and are followed by richly-coloured hips. Here they are planted amongst an abundance of perennial flowers, formal knots, box parterres and clipped yews. 

• Open daily, 10.30am – 4pm
• Drum Castle, Drumoak by Banchory, Aberdeenshire AB31 5EY
• www.nts.org.uk

Ballindalloch

Walk through the gate of the walled garden at Ballindalloch Castle and visitors are greeted by the perfume of the roses that scramble up trellises and smother arbours around a central pond. Climbers and ramblers grow in profusion, trailing flower-covered stems. As well as a rose garden, Ballindalloch has a huge rockery, a courtyard garden, smooth green lawns, tree-lined avenues and deep herbaceous borders against the castle walls.

• Open Sunday – Thursday, 10am – 5pm
• Ballindalloch Castle, Ballindalloch, Banffshire AB37 9AX
• www.ballindallochcastle.co.uk

Pitmuies House

Behind this fine Georgian house lies a pair of productive walled gardens, filled with flowers and produce, with beautiful rose terraces that surround a circular pond  where aquatic plants and statues emerge from the water.  Tall spikes of blue delphiniums, deep herbaceous borders, lines of shiny-barked cherry trees and stately cardiocrinum are amongst the many features that have given Pitmuies a reputation as one of the most beautiful gardens in Scotland.

• Open daily, 10am – 5pm
• Pitmuies House, Guthrie, by Forfar, Angus DD8 2SN. 
• www.pitmuies.com

Dumfries House

A new rose garden within the Queen Elizabeth Walled Garden at Dumfries House has been designed along classical lines, with the bushes planted en-masse in beds that are edged with low box hedges. The roses have been chosen for their vivid colours and rich scents. More roses scramble up arbours and cover the south-facing wall that lies behind the rose garden.

• Open daily, 10am – 5pm
• Dumfries House, Cumnock, Ayrshire KA18 2NJ
• www.dumfrieshouse.org.uk

Carolside House

Set within an elliptical walled garden is one of the greatest rose collections in Scotland. Here roses drape themselves from rope swags; they scramble up the walls, smother trellises and spill from the borders in a profusion of petals and sweet scent. 

The garden is devoted to old French roses, which are prized for their beauty and their perfume. They were the favourite flower of the Empress Josephine, who famously grew them at Malmaison near Paris.

At Carolside they are grown without artificial fertilisers or pesticides and they share the borders with lady’s mantle,  strawberries and sweet peas.

• Open Saturdays and Sundays, 11am – 5pm
• Carolside House, Earlston, Scottish Borders TD4 6A:
• www.carolside.com

Drummond Castle

During the summer the great parterre that sits below the castle is filled with red and yellow roses that echo Drummond’s heraldic colours. This 12-acre formal garden has 11 miles of box hedging and numerous topiaried yew and holly trees and from the terrace there are outstanding views over the parterre and towards the surrounding Perthshire countryside. The approach to the castle is along a mile-long tree-lined avenue and the formal gardens are surrounded by hundreds of acres of parkland.

• Open daily, 11am – 5pm
• Drummond Castle, Muthill, Crieff, Perthshire PH7 4HZ
• www.drummondcastlegardens.co.uk

Monteviot

A recently-replanted rose garden, filled with David Austin shrub roses,  is just one of the many beautiful gardens at Monteviot House. This impressive Palladian mansion, which overlooks the River Teviot, sits amongst beautiful grounds, with extensive flowerbeds, a herb garden, a Victorian sundial, an oriental water garden and the new Garden of Persistent Imagination, with natural stone structures and an avenue of climbing roses and clematis. Montevoit straddles Dere Street, the Roman road that connected York with southern Scotland.

• Open daily, 12 noon – 5pm
• Monteviot House & Garden, Jedburgh, Roxburghshire TD8 6UQ
• www.monteviot.com

For more details on these and dozens of other beautiful gardens visit www.discoverscottishgardens.org

Discover Scottish Gardens was launched in 2015 with support from VisitScotland’s Growth Fund and is sponsored by Beyonk Group, GMP Print Solutions, Alitex, Lycetts Insurance Brokers, Agriplastics, and Scottish Land & Estates. The organisation aims to put Scottish gardens, nurseries and related businesses on the tourist map and to showcase the nation’s outstanding horticulture and plant diversity. For more information and for events listings throughout the year, visit www.discoverscottishgardens.org.

For more information please contact:

Agnes Stevenson

agnes.c.stevenson@gmail.com

07766 742142