10 Best Places to See English Roses in South East England

20th May 2026

There’s nothing quite like an English rose in bloom. From pale blush petals to richly scented climbers, these timeless flowers are woven into the heritage and landscapes of South East England, from Kent and Sussex to Hampshire, Surrey, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

As spring gives way to summer, gardens across the region come alive with colour and fragrance. Roses spill over historic walls, soften formal borders and fill the air with scent—inviting visitors to slow down and enjoy the season.

Here are ten of the best places to experience English roses at their most beautiful… 

🌹 1. Southsea Rose Garden: A coastal rose garden, Portsmouth, Hampshire

Just moments from Portsmouth seafront, Southsea Rose Gardens offer a peaceful contrast to the lively waterfront. In summer, the gardens are filled with colour, offering a calm space to wander, sit and enjoy the scent of roses carried on the sea air. With a Japanese Zen garden nearby and a special Portsmouth100 rose being cultivated to mark the city’s centenary, it’s a quietly charming place to pause during a visit to Portsmouth.

🌹 2. Waddesdon Manor: Elegance in bloom, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire

At Waddesdon Manor, roses take pride of place within a beautifully designed Rose Garden, where hundreds of English roses create a richly scented and colourful display. Created as part of the estate’s Victorian gardens and later replanted with David Austin varieties, the rose garden celebrates a long-standing passion for horticulture, including a rose named in honour of Alice de Rothschild. The roses are complemented by seasonal planting such as lupins and delphiniums, creating depth, texture and a timeless elegance.

🌹 3. Pashley Manor Gardens: A celebration of roses, Ticehurst, East Sussex

At Pashley Manor Gardens, roses take centre stage during their annual Rose Week (12 - 20 June), when the gardens reach a particularly beautiful point in the season. The formal rose garden is filled with soft drifts of colour, while climbing varieties wind their way across warm brick walls and around the house, creating a truly classic English garden setting. Throughout the borders, roses are thoughtfully combined with seasonal planting, giving a sense of depth, texture and movement as you explore. This is a time when the gardens feel especially immersive—full of colour, fragrance and gentle detail—offering a chance to appreciate both traditional and modern rose varieties at their most expressive.

🌹 4. Chawton House, Roses in a literary landscape, Chawton, Hampshire

At Chawton House, roses bloom in a landscape shaped by history and literature. Once owned by Jane Austen’s brother, the gardens evoke the setting she would have known, with historic roses climbing brick walls, spilling through the orchard and framing the Victorian Walled Garden. A trail invites visitors to pause and reflect on horticultural lines from Austen’s novels, while beyond the blooms, the grounds reveal layers of design history—from an 18th-century wilderness to terraces influenced by Edwin Lutyens.

🌹 5. Classic Cottages: Stay among the roses, Kent

To fully immerse yourself in the season, consider a stay in a countryside cottage where roses frame doorways and fill gardens with scent. From charming retreats like the aptly named Rose Cottage (Hythe) to peaceful rural escape at Weald View Cottage (near Maidstone), surrounded by blooms, it’s a chance to slow down and experience summer at its most atmospheric.

🌹 6. Sculpture Park: Roses and sculpture, Farnham, Surrey

At The Sculpture Park in Surrey, roses form part of a creative journey through art and nature. As you follow winding trails dotted with sculptures, bursts of roses appear throughout the landscape, adding colour and fragrance to this relaxed outdoor experience. It’s an ideal setting for those looking for something a little different—where garden beauty and artistic discovery go hand in hand.

🌹 7. Hever Castle: Roses in full bloom, Edenbrige, Kent

At Hever Castle, roses take centre stage during Hever in Bloom (22 June - 5 July), when over 5,000 roses will transform the gardens into a vibrant display of colour. From formal rose gardens to climbing and rambling varieties, the scale and variety here are truly impressive—set against the backdrop of one of the South East’s most iconic historic settings. Wander through beautifully designed garden rooms and discover a rich mix of heritage roses alongside contemporary planting, creating a truly immersive summer experience.

🌹 8. Waterperry Gardens: A celebration of rose craft, Waterperry, Oxfordshire

At Waterperry Gardens, the rose season arrives from May, bringing colour, structure and fragrance to this much-loved Oxfordshire garden. The Rose Garden showcases a wide range of climbers, shrubs and floribunda varieties, all thriving following a careful redesign in recent years. Beyond the main garden, roses line the herbaceous border walls and take on more unusual forms in the dome roses — a traditional technique where stems are trained over hazel hoops to create cascading domes of bloom. Some date back to plantings introduced after 1932, making them both beautiful and historically significant features.

🌹 9. The Savill Garden: A crescendo of colour & scent, Egham, Surrey

Located in the south-east corner of Windsor Great Park, just four miles from Windsor town centre, The Savill Garden offers a beautifully designed and ever-changing landscape where roses take centre stage in the summer months. The contemporary Rose Garden, opened by Queen Elizabeth II, showcases a plethora of different roses carefully selected and planted in the form of a rose flower, with sweeping, curved beds and interlocking crescents that encourage visitors on a journey to the centre of the rose garden. One of its most distinctive features is the elevated walkway at its centre, which allows visitors to view the planting from above, taking in the patterns, textures and scent as the garden unfolds beneath you.

🌹10. Quex House & Gardens: A summer of roses, Isle of Thanet, Kent

At Quex House & Gardens, roses come into their own in early summer, filling the Victorian Walled Garden with colour and fragrance. Classic David Austin varieties such as Golden Celebration and Evelyn sit alongside beautifully scented favourites including Gertrude Jekyll and Scepter’d Isle, while wall-trained roses soften the surrounding brickwork to create a romantic setting. A visit forms part of a wider day out, with access to the gardens included in a combined ticket with the Powell-Cotton Museum and Quex House, allowing visitors to enjoy both heritage collections and seasonal planting in one experience.

🌹 Plan Your Rose-Filled Escape

The best time to see roses in South East England is from late May through July, when gardens are at their most colourful and fragrant. Whether you’re exploring historic estates, coastal gardens or hidden horticultural treasures, the region offers endless opportunities to experience the beauty of English roses.