Isn't The Gardens of the Rose the RNRS garden? That's near St. Albans. St. Albans is 45 minutes by train from London. I'm not sure then how you would get out there, by cab prehaps. I was there a couple of years ago when they were moving the garden after having to sell the land it was on. I'm sure it's worth a visit, though there's probably other gardens not to miss. There's a neat old church in St. Albans. You might want to go to Kew. You can get there on the tube. There's even a boat that goes there from London.

Thanks. I could tolerate a 45 min. train. Cabs are VERY expensive. If it's worth visiting, since they moved it. According to their website they were closed last year (2010) and don't yet show open times for 2011. And I could also get to Kew easily. And the Museum of Garden History sounds interesting.

Any other rose gardens to visit via train or bus?

Carol

Kew could easily take all day, and be well worth it! Also in London, near a Tube stop is the Chelsea Physic Garden, also very well worth visiting, for maybe an hour or two. Regent's Park is also quite good -- mostly modern roses, but a decent collection of old roses as well.
I've not been to the RNRS gardens since they replanted; it used to be excellent, and I presume it is again; just don't know. If it were me, I'd see the London gardens that day.

I second Malcolm's advice but then I have never visited St. Albans so can't comment on it. There are roses in Hyde Park as well, a nice planting in the southeast corner.

The Garden Museum in the former church of St.Mary-at-Lambeth is interesting, too, with a knot garden designed by the Marchioness of Salisbury in the old churchyard. The Tradescants, planthunting father and son are buried there as well as Captain Bligh of the Mutiny of the Bounty, Gertrude Jekyll's garden shoes, temporary exhibitions, and much more. Not to forget, a tea shop.

If I were going back to London, after visiting the gardens on your list, I would spend one day just visiting two gardens: I'd spend a couple hours in the morning at the Chelsea physic garden,( and the tea shop), and spend the rest of the day at Kew, it is a large garden and has many points of interest. I'd certainly vote for Kew over Regents park, if you must choose because of time restrictions.

Have a great trip,
Luxrosa

Kew, definitely. Nobody talks about their rose pergola but it is stunning and might still be in bloom - we were a bit early for it on June 12th last year. We enjoyed the species roses, some of which were planted in borders. There were some nice Austins and OGRs, too, but they were monoculture beds of roses which is not my favorite style. We rode the train around the grounds, poked our heads into the glasshouses, and saw only a fraction of what there was to see. Everything is labeled, and things are so very historic. Well worth a visit.
Anita

Kew it is, then. Thank you, one and all.

Carol

I'm wondering, Carol, how long you will have at each of the gardens - two days isn't much to do all four. We easily did both Sissinghurst and Great Dixter in a single day. We gave a day to Wisley. It's bit, and a terrific garden but we were unimpressed with their rather ordinary rose garden - the long, long, long border and rock garden were much better. We went to Mottisfont several different days, and I would think it needs at least half a day, if possible - hope you aren't too jet lagged on your first day in England. Mottisfont's rose gardens aren't huge, but there is so much to look at and it is so beautifully done that I couldn't stop looking! I think it might be open a bit later than usual in June, if you are staying nearby.

Janelle and I did fine on our first day in the UK without a nap, and really adjusted without much jet lag. I slept in a bit later than usual the first few mornings - she didn't. When I went to London with my husband some years ago, I didn't do as well - literally fell asleep on my feet while visiting a museum. Maybe it was an advantage to be outside in fresh air, sunshine, and gardens rather than inside. I got sick on the trip to London, but was utterly healthy and thriving during the garden trip.

In any case, your trip sounds wonderful. I think you've said that your husband isn't really a rose garden kind of guy, so how nice that you are getting these two days plus a day at Kew. My husband isn't much for gardens, but he was pretty enthusiastic about Kew.

I still think that Kew is a great choice, but have to say that we heard good things about St. Albans from the people on Clair Martin's Great Rosarians trip last year. It wasn't open to the general public but was open to RNRS members and tour groups. We could always have joined the RNRS and gotten to see it, but we just didn't make the time.
Anita

Anita, one of my favorite cartoons (clipped from the New Yorker years ago) shows 2 American tourists asking the guard at the Louvre "Which way to the Mona Lisa? We're double-parked."

And that's the kind of trip this is going to be, unfortunately. DH grew up in concrete and hasn't picked up any feeling for gardening (although he's been recruited for shoveling, at times). His ideal trip would be museums, historic sites, perhaps an opera and some art. I, on the other hand, seem to have evolved into a total blue-collar lunk with sausage fingers from all the weeding, torn stained old clothes, especially at the knees, and a raucous laugh. 52 years together has eased us into recognition of our differences.

So of the 6 days of our trip, my interests are dealt with the 1st 3 days, and his, the last. We'll both enjoy the scenery and the strange accents and the British Museum. We're hiring a car and driver to get around for the 1st part, since we're old enough to need special insurance if we wanted to drive, ourselves. But after that we're in London and will just walk and take the tube.

There was no garden tour that went to Mottisfont so I had to put this together and didn't want to go totally alone. But let's consider future tours to the great European rose gardens, shall we?

Carol.

I'm embarrassed by my sausage-fingered, stained, broken-nailed, ragged-cuticled hands. And my increasingly weather-beaten face. I see my hands and skin in photos and think "how did I come to this." But actually, inside my Dress-for-Success exterior was always a grubby gardener, dying to get out.
Anita

Inspired by this thread, I decided to post some of my photos of these and other English gardens. So have a look if interested, and be planning your visit!

I'll try to add descriptions and comments to them later, but for this evening, I just posted them labeled only with the location.

Malcolm

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to my English gardens photos

Great pix, Malcolm Manners! I wish I could see all of the gardens in your photos, but I realize that it wasn't done in one visit. So that's incentive to return after this trip.

Thank you for giving me (and all of us) the photographic tour.

Carol

My sister's and I enjoyed the roses at Sudely Castle.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sudely Castle