Our June meeting was a trip to the Rose Garden at Royal Roads University in Victoria BC, We were hosted by the rose gardener, who outlined the history of the rose garden.

HATLEY PARK - A NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

A 565 acre Edwardian estate containing old growth forest with walking paths, a lagoon , a castle, wetlands, nature trails, bird watching sites.

In 1908 Lieutenant Governor James Dunsmuir commissioned architect Samuel Maclure to design a 40-room stone castle as his family home. The home was sold in 1940 to the federal government with the understanding it would be used for educational purposes. For the next 55 years “Hatley Castle” and the site was used for a variety of military learning purposes, officially becoming Royal Roads Military College in 1968 and then Royal Roads University in 1995.

Hatley Park’s formal gardens include the original Italian Garden adjacent to the Castle, the elaborate Japanese Garden and the beautiful Rose Garden.

The rose garden was first planted in 1913, but fell into disuse in the second half of the century. It was renovated in 1997 with a lot of hard work and modern shrub roses donated by Brentwood Bay Nurseries, and now has one of the largest private collections of David Austin roses in North America.

Deer are always a problem on the forested grounds. The garden is fenced all around to keep them out. Some surplus large-diameter marine tow-rope from the RRMC days was draped between posts to provide structure for climbing roses.