hours

For information on Garden Closures or Public Events visit Parks Victoria

Monday 9:30am - 6.30pm

Tuesday 9:30am – 6.30pm

Wednesday 9:30am – 6.30pm

Thursday 9:30am – 6.30pm

Friday 9:30am – 6.30pm

Saturday 9:30am – 6.30pm

Sunday 9:30am – 6.30pm

direction

By Car: Address: Gate 2, K Road, Werribee South 3030

From Melbourne: Victoria State Rose Garden is located 35 kilometres west of Melbourne’s city centre, on the Princes Freeway. It is a short 30-minute drive from the city over the Westgate Bridge or via the Geelong Road. Take the Werribee / Werribee South exit to K Road.( Exit 19, C108 )

Enter via Gate 2 off K Road onto Main Drive. (also the address of Werribee Mansion & the Zoo)

From Geelong: It is a 40 minute drive along the M1. Take the C109 exit towards Werribee from the M1 Freeway. At roundabout take 2nd exit onto Princess Highway. Turn right at T intersection (Synnot St) Turn right onto Duncans Rd (C108) Turn right onto K Road. Take first right at Gate 2, Main Dr.

By Public Transport:

Step 1. From Melbourne:

Catch a train from the Melbourne CBD to Werribee station (travelling on the Werribee Line).

Step 2. From Werribee station:

Catch bus 439 (Werribee South) from Werribee station to the Rose Garden, Werribee Mansion & Zoo.

From Geelong:

Step 1: Catch a train from Geelong to Wyndham Vale Station (travelling on the Melbourne train).

Step 2: From Wyndham Vale Station catch the Bus 190 Werribee Station to Werribee station.

Step 3: From Werribee Station catch Bus 439 Werribee South to the Rose Garden, Werribee Mansion & Zoo.

Activities

The Rose Garden has been the perfect gathering spot for family and friends for generations. Whether for a stroll through the garden or idyllic family picnic.

Picnic with friends

Family gatherings

Rose enthusiasts

Bird watching, and

Just read & relax

hours

For information on Garden Closures or Public Events visit Parks Victoria

Monday 9:30am - 6.30pm

Tuesday 9:30am – 6.30pm

Wednesday 9:30am – 6.30pm

Thursday 9:30am – 6.30pm

Friday 9:30am – 6.30pm

Saturday 9:30am – 6.30pm

Sunday 9:30am – 6.30pm

direction

By Car: Address: Gate 2, K Road, Werribee South 3030

From Melbourne: Victoria State Rose Garden is located 35 kilometres west of Melbourne’s city centre, on the Princes Freeway. It is a short 30-minute drive from the city over the Westgate Bridge or via the Geelong Road. Take the Werribee / Werribee South exit to K Road.( Exit 19, C108 )

Enter via Gate 2 off K Road onto Main Drive. (also the address of Werribee Mansion & the Zoo)

From Geelong: It is a 40 minute drive along the M1. Take the C109 exit towards Werribee from the M1 Freeway. At roundabout take 2nd exit onto Princess Highway. Turn right at T intersection (Synnot St) Turn right onto Duncans Rd (C108) Turn right onto K Road. Take first right at Gate 2, Main Dr.

By Public Transport:

Step 1. From Melbourne:

Catch a train from the Melbourne CBD to Werribee station (travelling on the Werribee Line).

Step 2. From Werribee station:

Catch bus 439 (Werribee South) from Werribee station to the Rose Garden, Werribee Mansion & Zoo.

From Geelong:

Step 1: Catch a train from Geelong to Wyndham Vale Station (travelling on the Melbourne train).

Step 2: From Wyndham Vale Station catch the Bus 190 Werribee Station to Werribee station.

Step 3: From Werribee Station catch Bus 439 Werribee South to the Rose Garden, Werribee Mansion & Zoo.

Activities

The Rose Garden has been the perfect gathering spot for family and friends for generations. Whether for a stroll through the garden or idyllic family picnic.

Picnic with friends

Family gatherings

Rose enthusiasts

Bird watching, and

Just read & relax

Rosa Gallica Officianalis

Synonyms

Apothecary’s Rose

Appothekerrose

Common Provins Rose

Double Red Rose

Officinalis

Old Red Damask

Provins Rose

Red Damask

Red Gallica

Red Rose of Lancaster

Rosa gallica duplex

Rosa gallica maxima

Rosa gallica officinalis

Rosa gallica plena

Rosa gallica var. officinalis Ser.

Rosa gallica var. plena Regal synonym

Rose de Provins

Rosier de Provins ordinaire

This rose of many names is thought to be the once ‘red damask’ and it was the one most often used as the apothecary rose.

Its ancient history may perhaps start with such a rose depicted in a Minoan fresco dated at between 1500 and 1600 BC, which is believed to have been the gallica rose.

Its modern chapter takes us to the Crusades. This rose originally came from “the Land of the Saracens” to Provins in France when in 1240 Thibault Le Chansonnier returned from the Sixth Crusade bringing back the “Rose of Damas and a piece of the true cross”.

It is said that in 1279 Edmond of Woodstock, the youngest son of Edward I of the House of Lancaster, was sent to Provins, a town south of Paris, which at that time was a part of the English realm, to quell a riot. It is alleged that he brought back the Apothecary’s Rose to England to become the Red Rose of Lancaster. This became the Lancaster house symbol during the War of The Roses in the fifteenth century between the Houses of Lancaster and York.

Legend has it that the streets of Provins were overcrowded with Apothecaries shops and that most shops had Rosa Gallica Officinalis planted outside as advertising. Officinalis is Latin for “of the shop”, and this rose was famous for its use in many “medicinal” purposes.

When Marie Antoinette stopped at Provins overnight in 1770 on her way to marry the Dauphin (Later Louis XVI), the townspeople prepared for her a bed made entirely of gallica officinalis rose blossoms. Its perfume is still famous today and is one of two roses cultivated at Kazanlik, Bulgaria for the production of attar of roses. (The other is Kazanlik or Rosa Damascena Trigintipetala).

It was among the prized plants brought to America by the Pilgrims, and it naturalized readily in the New World. Its long underground shoots make it almost impossible to eliminate once established.

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