Rose (member) Garden  

Listing last updated on Wed Aug 2024

Napa, California 94558
United States

http://www.JohnsRoseGarden.org
VISIT THEIR WEBSITE

John's Rose Garden is closed and the property is no longer owned by the family that once owned it. You can visit the garden online at the website www.JohnsRoseGarden.org which was built by one of Mr. John Dallas’ sons, Larry Dallas, to honor his father and his garden after he passed away from cancer in February 2000. You are invited to browse the web pages of the cyberspace garden but please respect the current owner's privacy and do not visit the actual garden unless you have been invited.

The web site gives you a hint of what the garden is like in May when the roses are at the peak of bloom and the property is at its best. Of the 500 plus varieties of roses in the garden there are examples on the site of many including miniature roses, large roses, shrub types and climbers. Like his father tried to do for over 25 years with his free public garden is son Larry has tried to put pictures on the website that give visitors some ideas in using roses in garden landscapes.

The fully landscaped acre-and-a-half rose garden itself is located in Napa Valley, California. In 1972 the property was an open grassland lot of grass & weeds with a very small cinder-block structure and a storage-shed. Over the years that followed while John Dallas taught landscape / horticulture classes at Napa and Solano community colleges he slowly transformed the horse pasture into what is known today as "John's Rose Garden." In addition to hundreds of roses the garden has many bark-covered paths, numerous arbors, an assortment of garden benches and even a duck/goose pond. Three varieties of redwoods, planted many years ago as saplings, have flourished and grown to become a pleasing shady grove for summer sitting and meditation.

The garden also has scores of annuals, wildflowers and perennials to help the roses show visitors the beauty that can be created in their own gardens. In the eyes of the late John Dallas his garden had no real weeds. He identified many plants people normally uproot and toss out as volunteers that came up in the wrong place. For instance, more often than not he left the California Poppy volunteers untouched, even when they appeared in the middle of his walkways. Mr. Dallas performed most of his garden’s constant maintenance and upkeep. It was only after his passing that his family members learned how much effort this actually involves. Seldom did he seek help and when he did it was usually only for big project like putting in the automatic drip-o-lator irrigation system he installed throughout the property. With the exception of an occasional student he alone lovingly did the year round pruning and weeding of this magnificent garden.