Quiet London: Queen Mary’s Rose Garden

In the window full of sunlight
Concentrates her golden shadow
Fold on fold, until it glows as
Mellow as the glory roses.

— D H Lawrence

One of the most beautiful places to see, and enjoy the unmistakable scent of roses has to be Queen Mary’s Rose Garden in Regents Park. it is also one of my favourite places to visit at this time of year.  I had been concerned that because of the lockdown restrictions I wouldn’t be able to get there this summer. Thankfully with a recent relaxing of the rules I have been able to go.  In a year when we are all learning to appreciate the beauty of nature and when the small things have now become the big things, my visit was particularly special and without doubt a highlight of the last few months.

There are many London parks and open spaces which have roses in bloom at this time of year, but there are none quite so abundant as those in Queen Mary’s Rose Garden.  With a staggering 12,000 carefully planted and tended bushes, and 85 different varieties in well-tended gardens, it is known to be the largest collection in London.

The gardens name sake, Queen Mary’s full name was Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes Mary.  She was the first wife of George V.  This garden created in the 1930’s was named after her – thankfully they decided on the shortened version of her name.  Prior to this, this part of Regents Park was the site of a plant nursery and wasn’t accessible to the general public.  The first rose was planted in 1934 by the park superintendent.

The garden is beautifully positioned within the inner circle of spacious Regents Park.  Despite its fame it still has the air of a secret garden.  Although not difficult to find, its very well signposted, it is cleverly tucked away.  This makes it feel extra special and all the more exciting as you turn a corner and are greeted by an undulating sea of blooming roses

 

Like so many London green spaces, this garden is an oasis of calm in the middle of the city.  This secluded area is peaceful and quiet and a lovely place to find some calm

June is without doubt the best time to go when the roses are at their best, although there will be blooms during much of the summer if understandable you can’t visit now.  Go early in the morning when there is still dew on the roses and before the sun is too bright.  But, perhaps the loveliest time to go is on a warm early evening when the light is golden creating an even more romantic and dreamy scene.

The variety of roses is vast. Shrubs and climbers, and ramblers and hybrids meld together.  Meticulously planted beds, thick with pillar box red, fiery oranges, gentle apricots and sunny yellows.  Generous bushes with heads bearing 6 or 8 creamy white blooms weighing heavily under their weight sway in the breeze. And yet  it is the proliferation of pink that draws me in every time.  Hot pink, bubble gum, and soft berry. Petals as pale and delicate as the layers of a tutu, and soft as goose down.

Sweeping rope swags support tangles of stems and stalks which entwine across arches forming massed boughs of delicate blooms under which to sit and breathe in the delicious perfumes.  This really is a beautiful place to stop and literally smell the roses.

Literary connections

There are a number of literary connections to The Rose Garden.  It featured in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway and also gave its name to the title of a Sylvia Plath poem “A sea of dreams washes the edge of my green island, the great roses, many of them scentless,”  She wrote the poem when she was living in Primrose Hill in 1960.

My favourite literary connection however is with 101 Dalmatians, the book by Dodie Smith which gave the inspiration for the disney classic animated film.  In the film the leading dog  Pongo is bored of his bachelor life and is looking for a companion for both  himself and his owner Roger. When he spies

Perdita and her owner Anita, he plays Cupid and drags Roger to the park to orchestrate a meeting with the them both.

This “chance” encounter takes place in the romantic setting of the Queen Mary’s Garden in Regent’s Park. As we know, Roger and Anita see each other and the rest is history.

 

Visting

In normal times, there are various tube options to choose from to take you to the Park.  Baker Street, Great Portland Street, St Johns Wood, and Regents Park all provide easy access.  There is also limited parking places.

The park opens at 5am and closes at 9,30pm in the summer.  This makes it perfect for social distancers or those who just like to rise with the lark.

Regents Park is close to Primrose Hill, Regents canal and London Zoo.  In fact its possible to get sightings of giraffes, zebras, and camels if you know where to look!

We have always known how important it is to create memories, and a lock down stroll through Queen Mary’s beautiful Rose Garden in this quiet corner of London has already become a treasured one for me in these turbulent times.