Munstead Wood’s First Rose of 1918: A Blooming Legacy

May 16, 1918

On this day, the rose season began at Munstead Wood, the Arts and Crafts style home and surrounding gardens in Surrey, England, created by the renowned garden designer Gertrude Jekyll.

Can you imagine the anticipation in the air as the first rose unfurled its petals?

Munstead Wood, a name that evokes images of lush English gardens and timeless design, became famous thanks to Gertrude's books and articles in magazines like Country Life. Gertrude lived at Munstead Wood from 1897 to 1932, infusing the property with her horticultural genius for over three decades.

Picture, if you will, the gardens of Munstead Wood on this spring day, the air filled with the promise of blooms to come.

Volume 82 of The Garden celebrated the first rose to open at Munstead Wood on this day by reporting,

The rose season begins.

The opening the first Rose is always a source of delight.

The first we have seen in the open this year was the pink Rosa rugosa at Munstead Wood on May 16.

This is one of the oldest garden roses and is said to have been cultivated since 1100 A.D. in China, where the ladies of the Court prepared a kind of potpourri from its petals, gathered on a fine day, and mixed with Camphor and Musk.

Isn't it fascinating how a single bloom can connect us to centuries of horticultural history?

The Rosa rugosa, with its delicate pink petals, not only heralded the beginning of the rose season at Munstead Wood but also carried with it a rich heritage stretching back to ancient China.

Can you envision the ladies of the Chinese Court, nearly a millennium ago, carefully gathering these fragrant petals to create their luxurious potpourri?

As we tend to our own gardens today, let us take a moment to appreciate the timeless beauty of roses. Whether we're cultivating a sprawling estate like Munstead Wood or nurturing a single rosebush on a city balcony, we're participating in a tradition that spans continents and centuries.

And who knows?

Perhaps as you watch your own roses unfurl this season, you'll feel a kinship with Gertrude Jekyll and the countless other gardeners throughout history who have delighted in that first bloom of spring.