Here are Miriam’s notes about great European public gardens:

While there are rose gardens on every continent, the history and old-world elegance of the rose gardens of Europe sets them apart from the rest. If you’re a rose lover planning a spring or summer trip to Europe, here are a few rose gardens you won’t want to miss.

Europa-Rosarium in Sangerhausen, Germany
Covering some 30 acres, the Europa-Rosarium is considered Europe’s largest rose garden. Here you’ll find over 55,000 specimens from some 7,000 rose varieties, both cultivated and wild. While you’re here, learn more about your favorite flower at the garden’s School of Roses, grab a bite to eat the Black Rose Restaurant, and pick up some souvenirs in the gift shop.

Roseraie de Bagatelle in Paris, France
Another of the larger rose gardens of Europe, the Bagatelle is home to over 1,100 cultivars of roses, totaling some 9,000 plants. Around 20% are traditional historic species brought in before 1900 and quite a few can be found nowhere else. The entire park is laid out in traditional French formal garden style. If you’re planning to visit this garden, try to make it in June in time for the annual competition for new roses.

Rosengarten in Bern, Switzerland
To look at it now, you’d hardly believe this hilltop garden alive with a rainbow of blooming trees and shrubs was a cemetery up until 1913. While not necessarily the spot to learn about rare cultivars and modern rose cloning techniques, this peaceful formal garden does offer a excellent place to stroll among the fountains and arbors and admire the rose’s natural beauty.

Tivoli Gardens Rose Garden in Copenhagen, Denmark
Looking for garden that offers more than a look at the flowers? Then Tivoli Gardens is the place. Best known as an amusement park, Tivoli also boasts a large semi-formal rose garden featuring blooms in traditional pink, red, white, and yellow. When you’ve taken in the gardens, stop by the main park for a chance to ride everything from an antique-style wooden rollercoaster to a modern zero-G roll.

If you’re consider touring the rose gardens of Europe, you’ll find no shortage of places to get a close-up look at rare and unusual rose cultivars in gardens specially designed to show the roses off to their full advantage. Remember, though, besides the major rose gardens, there are hundreds of smaller rose gardens worth spending time in no matter which country in Europe you visit.

The seminars are sponsored by Lowe’s, Bayer Advanced, Jackson & Perkins Roses, and the American Rose Society. The seminars will run from 9AM to 1PM except in Tampa and Southern California.

The expert rosarians running these seminars will offer useful tips on which selecting and growing roses in your area. They will also answer any questions you have about growing roses. Check the Rose Day America 2005 webpage for more details. If you attend a seminar, pick up an application to join a rose society.

Lowe’s Garden Club

Lowe’s has a wonderful online gardening site called the Lowe’s Garden Club that’s worth visiting. Be sure to bookmark this page when you visit the website because you may have trouble finding it again.

One of the best features of the Lowe’s Garden Club is the monthly gardening advice that is customized by region. Just click your location on a hardiness zone map to get information tailored to your area.

The online interactive Landscape and Garden Planner is fun to use and generates a layout of your dream garden that you can print for future reference. Start with the easy to understand tutorial and then launch the garden planner.

Some of the features of the Garden Club require free registration. While you are on the Lowe’s website subscribe to the free Garden Club News.

I noticed that the local Lowe’s (Coon Rapids, MN) will be offering a “Select and Care for Container Roses” workshop each Saturday in May at 11AM. The same workshop may be available in your area.