Valentine’s Idea: Visit A Rose Garden

Valentine’s Day is a special day, when we take the time to slow down, look around us, and appreciate the loved ones in our lives. Maybe, in addition, we also want to stop and smell the roses — literally. There are rose gardens — beautiful, vast, eye-popping rose gardens — the world over. And what could express your unending love more dramatically than a tour through one of these olfactory wonderlands? Here are five of the planet’s most beautiful rose gardens, just waiting for you to come a-calling. Warning: I don’t think they’ll let you snip a souvenir for yourself!

  1. Australia’s National Rose Garden is located on the banks of the Macquarie River at the historic Woolmers Estate in Longford, Tasmania. With varieties dating back to the 18th Century, the roses are available for viewing every day except Christmas.
  2. Hertfordshire, England’s Royal National Rose Society boasts more than 30,000 roses. A major program of bulb plantings has extended the garden season, so that visitors can enjoy the feast of color and beauty from Spring through late Summer. When its current renovation is complete, the Garden will feature an exhibit that demonstrates the History of the Rose.
  3. The Gardens of the American Rose Center, located just outside Shreveport, Louisiana, is the world’s largest rose garden. Five dollars gains you entry into this stunning, stunning, scented scene.
  4. Zakir Hussain Rose Garden is Asia’s largest rose garden. Located in Chandigarh, India, it is spread over 30 acres and features over 1600 different species of roses. If you can hold off your amorous tour until late February, you can participate in the Rose Festival, during which 20,000 people visit the garden.
  5. Though it may not be the biggest, Atlanta’s Carter Center features a beautiful rose garden overlooking the city. Grab a bottle of bubbly, and enjoy the best place in the city to watch the sunset.

Know of another beautiful rose garden? Share your knowledge with us!