04/06/2026
🌹 Ahead of this year's Festival of Roses, our Shrub Rose Garden has had an exciting refurbishment over the course of 6 months, with new structures installed and over 40 new rose varieties added to the central beds, it’s first major renovation since 2004.
We've replaced the original wooden supports which succumbed to rot with metal structures which will withstand our wet Devon winters better. Manufactured by local metalwork company Dolton Designs, the cylindrical shapes allow flexible rose stems to be easily trained around them without breaking. The more open and airy metal structures should also enhance views through the garden, and the natural weathered finish will fit in with the less-formal planting in this area. A new rope swag linking between them for the roses to grow along completes the project.
Many of the roses in these beds were also in decline so we took this opportunity to refresh all the planting and spoke to rose experts and enthusiasts for feedback and inspiration. For the structures we selected a combination of climbers and ramblers, narrowing the options down to those of the right size and vigour and then making sure to get a good mix of colours, flower type and flowering time. With scent being one of the most loved qualities of roses, we made sure to include some highly scented roses in each section of the design. For biodiversity we had a good proportion with single flowers and hips in the winter.
The roses will need a few years to establish but we will be bringing back lots of refreshed herbaceous perennials like Salvia ‘Rose Queen’, Silene coronaria ‘Angel’s Blush’ and Agastache ‘Blackadder’ to fill the beds with colour throughout the summer.
🎉 Congratualations to Team Leader Sally Newbrook and Horticulturalist Emma McFarlane who led on this great project - do come and see it for yourself!
