As you wander around these gardens, note the rose beds.
While their number has changed over time, what remains constant is that most are hybrid tea (meaning mostly single stemmed) and floribunda (branching bouquets) roses of the 1950s and 1960s.
Some parts of the beds include roses arranged alphabetically. Their addition in the 1960s, with publicly raised funds, came at the prompting of the Develop Castlemaine and District Committee.
Today’s garden caretakers are committed to retaining the mid-20th century collection, replanting, where possible, cultivars mentioned in a 1965 plan drawn up after the first rose beds were planted.
Roses belong to the rosaceae family which includes plums, cherries, peaches, apricots and almonds. Their rose hips (seed heads left after flowering) are used to make tea, jellies and hydrating skin oils. In autumn, the hips of rosa rugosa surrounding the fountain are especially spectacular.