Support Us Button Widget

🌹 Stop and smell the roses, Boston

The Kelleher Rose Garden, located on Park Drive in the Back Bay Fens, is home to ~1,500 roses. Here’s what to know about the hidden oasis and English-style garden.

Entryway to rose garden

Roses are red, violets are blue, we love this rose garden, and you should too.

Photo provided by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy

Boston has no shortage of beautiful green spaces to visit — and we’ve got one for the top of your bucket list. The James P. Kelleher Rose Garden in the Back Bay Fens (73 Park Dr.) has just started to bloom, and its peak season will last for about three weeks.

The Emerald Necklace Conservancy garden, which is home to ~1,500 roses, first opened in 1931. It was designed by Arthur Shurcliff, the landscape architect who later worked with Frederick Law Olmsted.

Stroll through Boston’s (not so) secret garden Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. + Saturday-Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each year from May through October.

Bonus: Want to lend a helping hand? Register for “Tuesday with Roses” to assist with deadheading and pruning roses + weeding the rose beds. The events take place every Tuesday through September from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

More from BOStoday
Reach your local community with our help.
Sip on the story of Boston’s favorite coffee chain.
To help make your Logan Airport experience as smooth as possible, we’ve created a guide that covers everything from the four terminals to parking and popular international flights.
Celebrate Small Business Week in Boston with the local folks who make up our economy’s backbone.
Whether you are spending a day or a lifetime in Boston, MA, these are some of the best free things to do in town — from outdoor adventures to kid-friendly offerings and beyond.
Multiple online surveys ranked Boston + Massachusetts as places where large scale eco-friendly efforts are making a major impact on protecting the environment.
Lunch near Boston shouldn’t break the bank. From downtown Boston to Cambridge, we’ve got the best lunch spots that everyone can agree on.
Celebrate Small Business Week in Boston with the local folks who make up our economy’s backbone.
BOS-Underground-Ink-Block
13 murals around Boston
Take an artsy adventure around the city to locate these murals.