‘O my luve is like a red, red rose,
That’s newly sprung in June’

So said Robert Burns in his poem A Red, Red Rose written in 1794. Roses really are the Queen of Flowers - they send a strong message of love, possess a heavenly scent, and have breath-taking colours. The rose is undoubtedly the world’s favourite flower and it’s grown in every country where the climate allows. Roses in the Goldsborough Hall Gardens & Grounds in North Yorkshire are spectacular and can be viewed on selected dates throughout the month of June. Click ‘Buy Tickets’ to choose your date to visit.

blush pink rose, Dr Van Fleet, goldsborough hall gardens om window — *Rose ‘Dr Van Fleet’ climbing up against the drawing room window*

HRH Princess Mary, who lived at Goldsborough Hall with her husband Viscount Lascelles throughout the 1920s, adored roses. ‘Roses specially chosen by Princess Mary have been blooming all summer in the flower gardens which lie below the house at Goldsborough and Princess Mary has spent much time amid her roses of late,’ detailed a report in the London Daily Chronicle of 1924.

‘A life with love must have some thorns, but a life with no love will have no roses’ – Anonymous

Although Mary’s rose garden has not survived the years, we replanted it in 2006 with a selection of old rose varieties which will be at their absolute best in June. My first choice was Old China Blush whose graceful clusters of dainty soft pink flowers start early and finish late – what a hard working rose! Next was Little White Pet, which my parents grow in their gorgeous Gertrude Jekyll garden in the New Forest. They flower so well in large clusters of small white pompom blooms that we also have them running up the side of the Garden House.

pink rose garden lined with lavender, goldsborough hall — *The rose garden with Little White Pet, Comte de Chambord, Old China Blush and James Galway, lined with lavender*

The show-off of the rose garden has to be the blousy Comte de Chambord. It produces full-petalled open flat flowers that are just knock out. With good dead-heading all these roses will repeat flower, especially Old China Blush which will flower until November. A later addition was the modern rose James Galway which climbs up on two arbours. These strikingly beautiful flowers with mid pink at the centre, perfectly complement the existing older roses.

white rose Yorkshire Princess, Mary, goldsborough hall gardens — *Rose ‘Yorkshire Princess’ in the balustrade border*

As a fitting tribute to Princess Mary’s love of roses, we planted rose ‘Yorkshire Princess’, named after her, in the Balustrade Border. This limited-edition rose was bred in Northern Ireland by Dickson Nurseries and launched by Harewood House in 2012. It resembles an old fashioned rose and has a slight sweet scent, white with a delicate pink centre. As soon as I heard that there was to be a Princess Mary rose, I wrote immediately to Dickson’s to get them to reserve 25 for the Hall and waited over a year for them to come! Accompanying the roses is clematis Perle d’Azur mixed with rose ‘New Dawn’ up the back wall. Also out in June will be geranium platypetalum ‘Alan Mayes’ alongside lots of purple aliums, before the rest of the planting takes over.

white rose Yorkshire Princess purple geranium, euphorbia, goldsborough hall gardens — *Rose ‘Yorkshire Princess’ in the balustrade border*

‘The gardens at Goldsborough Hall are a wonderful sight just now with their masses of brilliant blooms. The gardens have always been very fine, but Princess Mary has altered them a good deal, and has taken endless trouble to get the best effect with her flowers so as to have herbaceous borders in continual bloom,’ from the Adelaide Chronicle in 1929. Unfortunately when we arrived in 2005, the herbaceous borders were derelict, filled with nettles and ground elder. Since then we have planted in a 1920s Gertrude Jekyll style which befits the era and in June the delphiniums will be in full flower, and you will be able to see the tail end of the fabulous lupins.

Rose white Iceberg climbing gazebo, goldsborough hall gardens — *Rose ‘Iceberg’ climbing up the gazebo in the woods*

Princess Mary inherited her love of gardening from her parents (don’t we all?). ‘The gardens at Goldsborough Hall have been considerably improved and enlivened with the additional flower beds since her marriage. Roses are among her favourite flowers, and a rose garden is among the new features at Goldsborough, where beds filled with highly coloured flowers extend just outside the windows of the house,’ explained the Brisbane Courier in 1928. We have been working closely with The Rose Society to try to identify old roses at the Hall. It is likely that several climbing and rambling roses were planted in her era, including rose ‘Nevada’ and rose ‘Dr Van Fleet’.

‘When life throws thorns, hunt for roses’ – Anonymous

In the woodland walk, once all the spring bulbs have died back, the foxgloves take over with hundreds planted alongside the paths towards the orchard. Just as you enter the woods high in a holly tree is rose filipes ‘Kiftsgate’, the rambling rose. This tough and extremely vigorous rose was planted long before we moved to the hall. It can spread very quickly and almost knocked over the holly tree last year. It bears masses of small, white flowers with a strong musky fragrance, held in beautiful, flat-topped, cascading clusters (know as corymbs). It flowers later than most ramblers, in June and July with a wonderful crop of small, oval shaped coral-red hips.

*Rose ‘New Dawn’ with the clematis ‘Perle d’Azur’ in the balustrade border*

Also look out for rose ‘Iceberg’ which scrambles up the side of the gazebo in the woods - a perfect spot to sit and admire the views over the parkland. There are some magnificent and ancient trees in the grounds including a giant redwood, a very rare sorbus, a pseudo acacia from the 1750s and one of the oldest horse chestnuts left standing in the country. And a visit to Goldsborough Hall’s gardens would not be complete without a stroll up the quarter-mile Lime Tree Walk, planted by Royalty in the 1920s.

Visit the Goldsborough Gardens - cost £8 per person; teens £5. Dogs on leads are welcome. To purchase tickets, click below.

Buy tickets for Goldsborough Hall Gardens

Where to buy roses?

The roses that we have planted have come from either David Austin or Peter Beale while the Princess Mary rose ‘Yorkshire Princess’ comes from Dickson Nursery in Northern Ireland.

Goldsborough Hall’s roses

Old China Blush - graceful clusters of dainty, soft pink flowers with a delicious fragrance. Flowers early and finishes late, 1750. In the rose garden
Little White Pet - a dwarf, perpetual flowering sport of the rambler ‘Félicité-Perpétue’. It produces large clusters of small, white pompom blooms, densely filled with petals, 1879. In the rose garden and along the garden house

pink, rose, window, goldsborough hall — *Soft pink rose against the dining room window*

Comte de Chambord - A most charming rose with light magenta, full-petalled flowers open flat. They have a strong and delicious old rose fragrance. Moreau-Robert, 1860. In the rose garden

James Galway - Strikingly beautiful flowers are mid pink at the centre, gradually becoming lighter towards the edges. Named after the British flautist. David Austin, 2000. On the two arbours of the rose garden

Yorkshire Princess - named after Princess Mary, resembles an old-fashioned rose and has a slight sweet scent, white with a delicate pink centre. Dickson Nurseries, 2012. In the balustrade border

blush pink rose, climber, goldsborough hall — *Rose ‘Dr Van Fleet’ - a soft pink blush rose*

New Dawn - climbing rose and is the forerunner of the modern perpetual flowering climbers, producing clusters of sweetly fragrant, medium-sized, silvery soft pink flowers. Dreer, 1930. Back wall of the balustrade border
Minnehaha - rambling rose with large clusters of small, double, deep pink flowers, fading almost to white. Flowers later in the season. Ample small glossy foliage. Walsh, 1905. Situated at the front of the hall
Dorothy Perkins - a most popular rambler. Bears large sprays of small, double or semi-double, matt pink flowers early in the season. Jackson & Perkins, 1861. Situated by the terrace steps at the front of the hall

Nevada - a white rose cultivar developed by Pedro Dot in Spain in 1927 and named for its colour, as Nevada is the Spanish word for ‘snowy’. A large shrub at its best in May and June when the arching branches are covered with large, semi double fragrant creamy-white blooms. Pedro Dot, 1927. Situated next to the beech arch, possibly planted by Princess Mary

Albertine - tall rambler with reddish salmon buds which open to large, loosely double light pink blooms with some of the character of a hybrid tea rose. Strong, rich fruity fragrance. Growth branching and bushy with small dark leaves. Barbier 1921. Climbing up one of the trees to the right of the rose garden

double pink rose minnehaha goldsborough hall gardens — *Small, double pink flowers of rose Minnehaha*

Kiftsgate - Masses of small white flowers with a strong musk scent. Each flower faces outwards, exposing a cluster of pretty yellow stamens. A very tall rambler, healthy, tough and extremely vigorous with spreading growth. Murrell, 1964. In the holly tree on the way to the woodland walk

Iceberg - Modern climber vigorous, almost thornless growth with light green foliage. Flowers of pure white are semi-double from small shapely buds, produced in large clusters. Kordes, 1958. The gazebo in the woods
Dr Van Fleet - rambling rose of soft pink and a light fragrance. Pointed buds open to double, medium-sized flowers of soft, pearly blush pink, flowering freely. Van Fleet, 1870. Situated on the east side of the Hall by the drawing room, possibly planted by Princess Mary

Danse du Feu - medium climbing rose with semi-double, brilliant red flowers, their colour deepening with age. They start as short, shapely buds, opening to globular flowers that eventually become flat. It is clothed in plentiful foliage. Mallerin, 1953. Next to Dr Van Fleet
Alberic Barbier - rambling rose with pretty yellow buds which open into fully double, quartered, creamy white flowers, each about 3” across, and delightfully muddled when open. Flowers in early summer and can repeat later in the season. Almost evergreen, with ample, glossy, dark green foliage. Barbier, 1860. Covering the wall by the entrance to the courtyard.
Masquerade - a climbing rose with yellow, pink and red flowers. It flowers freely during the summer and has vigorous growth and a light fragrance. Gregory, 1958. Situated by the conservatory

rose, pink, yellow, red, masquerade, goldsborough hall gardens — *Rose Masquerade, a multi-coloured flowering climber*

Dreaming Spires - a climbing rose with fruity scented with large double, bright yellow flowers. Repeat flowering with an upright habit and dark green leaves. Medium fragrance. Bred by Mattock, 1973. Situated .
My huge thanks to The Rose Society who have been so helpful in identifying some of the old roses we have inherited in the gardens.

Goldsborough Hall is a historic royal stately home you can visit, dine or stay the night in.

It stands in 12 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds which boast unspoilt elevated views over the historic gardens and tranquil parkland, making it one of the most private, exclusive and beautiful places to stay in Yorkshire.

This hidden gem has royal connections as it was home to HRH Princess Mary (the Queen’s aunt) throughout the 1920s, and has been lovingly restored to its former glory. Offering luxury 5* accommodation, 3 AA rosette fine dining, afternoon tea, private and exclusive weddings, corporate events and meetings, Goldsborough Hall is the perfect setting for any occasion.