Our second day, Tuesday, included a visit to the RNRS Gardens of the Rose…now what perfect timing!  If 30,000 roses in bloom doesn’t make you gasp in delight, then I feel sorry for you!  It was just wonderful and as you walk along you can smell them in the air.  I had been here before so took some different shots this time…of the headquarters, a side view this time as I had a front view.  My most favorite picture this time is of the peachy pink rose with the lavender clematis.  They look so happy together…we then spent time in St. Albans before leaving.  St. Albans has a fantastic history – it was once a Roman town.  Much to see!

The West Gardens contain a formal and wilderness garden, a scented garden with a herb garden at its center, and a knot garden, planted with plants and bulbs which would have grown in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.  Since I have pictures of this garden from previous tours, I decided to take one of this magnolia, that just astounded me.  The open flowers were so big but they were too high up for me to get a good picture…this one is pretty nice though, growing against a red brick wall.   The garden with the stone fence is their private garden, not open to the public.  This is the front of the house and faces a very long driveway…you can see the tall entrance gate at the end.  To add to my collection of benches is this wonderful carved wooden bench.