Movie star John Wayne loved his roses. He would spend hours each day pruning and watering his beloved hybrid teas. In 1972, the John Wayne Memorial Rose Garden was established to carry on the tradition started by Duke Wayne. The gardens have grown to 43 acres with over 4,000 varieties of roses on display.

The garden is one of 80 or so member rose gardens of Associated Memorial Rose Gardens of America. We offer memberships that entitle the visitor to free rose bushes from major nurseries around the country.  

Visitors to the gardens are asked to rate their favorite roses from those labeled with a special number. This way, we can grub out those that are not favorites and eliminate them from our collections and not waste precious space.

In recent years, the gardens have expanded to include every type of rose known to grow in this environment. We do not use any pesticides and just let the critters chew away to their delight. When they are bloated and full, we come along with a bucket of soapy water and drown them before they have time to reproduce. They die but with a smile on their face and absolutely no contamination of our wonderful environment.

Our benefactor was a tough hombre in his movies but he was never afraid to smell the roses that surrounded his house. He cared for them as if they were his children and once shot a man in the arm for picking a bloom without his permission.

Come and see our wonderful collection. The gardens are open to the public Tuesday through Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Closed on Mondays.

 

 

Copyright © 2001- John Wayne Memorial Rose Garden