The smell of roses and other florals welcomes visitors as they enter the Tyler Rose Garden.

It is a must-see destination in East Texas, especially during springtime when the roses peak at full bloom.

Located at 420 Rose Park Dr., the Rose Garden sees more than 100,000 visitors from around the world every year. Among those visitors were a Fort Worth couple earlier this week who made a stop to enjoy the garden’s glory.

Mackenzie Blake and her husband Jorge Francisco Grajales brought their 1-year-old daughter Caris Catalina and their two dogs, Cersei and Sage, to the rose garden for a picnic near the pond.

“It’s our first time here and we absolutely love it,” Blake said. “It’s so beautiful. And I love that you can just immediately smell the flowers when you walk in.”

The Rose Garden Center was a park project initiated in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). However, due to World War II, the center was not opened to the public until 1952. The initial planting involved the use of almost 3,000 rose bushes.

Now, there are over 32,000 rose bushes with approximately 600 varieties of roses. It also hosts special areas of interest including Idea Garden and Heritage Garden, as well as camellia and daylilies.

Earning the title Rose Capital of the World, the garden is responsible for over one-third of the nation’s rose bushes processed, packaged, and shipped from this area.

The peak season for roses in Tyler is April and October, weather depending. However, the Tyler Rose Garden has 14 acres to explore with many varieties of other plants and flowers that bloom throughout the year.  

The Tyler Rose Garden is free to the public. Regular hours are daily from sunrise to sunset. 

Great Public Spaces in Texas

In 2018, the Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA) acknowledged the Tyler Municipal Rose Garden as one of the Great Public Spaces in Texas. This recognition is a part of the APA’s Great Places in Texas program, which highlights and promotes exceptional streets, neighborhoods, and public spaces.

National Register of Historic Places

In October 2019, the Tyler Municipal Rose Garden was officially recognized as a “national treasure” and added to the National Register of Historic Places after a two-year-long application process. The National Register of Historic Places is a catalog of historic buildings, districts, sites, structures, and objects across the country that are considered worthy of preservation. 

The Tyler Municipal Rose Garden now stands alongside other significant landmarks in Smith County, such as the Azalea Residential Historic District, the Blackstone Building, the Carnegie Public Library, and the Cotton Belt Building.

Lone Star Legacy Park

The Tyler Municipal Rose Garden was designated as a Lone Star Legacy Park in 2023, acknowledging its significance to both the local community and the state of Texas. The Lone Star Legacy Park program has been in place for 11 years, and with the addition of the Class of 2023 parks, there are now a total of 72 Lone Star Legacy Parks across Texas.