Centennial Rose Garden
Explore the Centennial Rose Garden
The Centennial Rose Garden, on the grounds of the Schmidt House in Tumwater, Washington, is arguably the most significant rose garden between Tacoma and Portland. It has a rich history, having been dedicated in June 1989 as a Washington Centennial project by the Olympia Rose Society. The garden is co-sponsored by the Centennial Garden Foundation and the Olympia-Tumwater Foundation. The Olympia Tumwater Foundation also owns and manages the Schmidt House and adjacent Brewery Park at Tumwater Falls – both important historic sites in the Olympia-Tumwater area.
The Garden is also used by the Olympia Rose Society as a teaching and outreach resource. Frequent activities and events are held in the garden for interested members of the community. Find upcoming events in our calendar or on our Facebook page.
Open Daily During Daylight Hours
The garden is open to the public daily during daylight hours during the flowering season (lateish April through October).
Walking Conditions
The garden, roughly 90 by 30 feet in size, is accessible by a paved walkway, and the garden itself has gravel paths. Benches are also placed throughout the garden.
ADA Accessibility
The rose garden is completely ADA-accessible, and the ADA-accessible bathroom is located in the garage adjacent to the garden!
The Roses
The garden contains a collection of more than 230 bushes of some 63 varieties of modern and heritage roses. Represented here are some of the finest examples of Hybrid Tea, Grandiflora, and Floribunda roses as well as Shrubs, Polyanthas, Miniatures, and Heritage roses.
Care
All of the rose plants have been meticulously and lovingly cared for during the past three decades by volunteers from the Olympia Rose Society. Currently, the garden is maintained by a group of volunteers called "Friends of the Centennial Rose Garden". All varieties are named with permanent markers located throughout the garden beds. Heritage rose markers also indicate the date on which they were introduced into commerce.
Establishing The Centennial Rose Garden
The garden, along with a collection of both modern and Heritage roses, was constructed at the Schmidt House site during 1987-88 and was dedicated in June of 1989. The dedication was held in conjunction with the annual Meeting of the Pacific Northwest District of the American Rose Society, which was hosted by the ORS on June 23, 1989. With Washington’s first lady, Jean Gardner, as the featured speaker the event was attended by more than 250 people.
The lovely rose garden is open to the public at no charge but receives no government support for staffing or maintenance. If you enjoy the garden, please consider making a donation to help with the cost of its care.
Make a Contribution
Activities and Rose Collections
The Centennial Rose Garden hosts many activities throughout the year. Stay tuned to upcoming events by following our Facebook page, and checking our event calendar! To learn more about our rose collections, hover over photos and read more below.
- Lynette Anderson
- Gary & Marilyn Ritchie
- Barb & Rodney Baker
- Charley Barron
- Lucy Chaffin
- Angela French
- Jeanne Harmon
- Ron Backman
- Doreen Milward
- Paula Nelson
- Sharon Pearsons
- Midge Price
- Pat Ream
- Dorothy Taylor
- Zoe Weber
- Bill Hansen
Friends of the Centennial Rose Garden
Thank you to these amazing volunteers who work diligently to care for the roses! The garden would not be nearly as incredible without them.
Centennial Rose Garden History
For several decades the Olympia Rose Society (ORS) maintained a rose garden on the grounds of the Community Center on 4th Avenue in Olympia. In 1986 the ORS was notified that a new Community Center was to be built in downtown Olympia and the old center was to be closed and demolished. An exhaustive local search was immediately undertaken to locate a suitable new site to which the rose garden could be moved.
This effort resulted in an agreement with the Olympia Tumwater Foundation enabling the garden to be moved to a location immediately adjacent to the Schmidt House on the site of an abandoned tennis court.
Concurrently, the State of Washington was planning for the upcoming Centennial Celebration to be staged during 1989. Part of the planning involved offering grants to community organizations through the various counties to undertake projects as part of this celebration. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the ORS applied for such a grant to move the garden to the Schmidt House site as a centennial project. It was accepted by “Thurston County Centennial ‘89” with the condition that the garden contain a collection of Heritage roses – rose varieties that would have been popular in the Olympia-Tumwater area at the time of statehood 100 years ago.
The garden, along with a collection of both modern and Heritage roses, was constructed at the Schmidt House site during 1987-88 and was dedicated in June of 1989. The dedication was held in conjunction with the annual Meeting of the Pacific Northwest District of the American Rose Society, which was hosted by the ORS on June 23, 1989. With Washington’s first lady, Jean Gardner, as the featured speaker, the event was attended by more than 250 people.
Today, the Centennial Rose Garden remains as one of the very few Washington Centennial Celebration projects still in existence.
Finding the Centennial Rose Garden
The Centennial Rose Garden, which is adjacent to the Schmidt House, is open to the public daily from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM during the flowering season (late April through October) and is completely ADA accessible. Visitors are asked to enter the garden through the gate adjacent to the garden shed on the north side of the garden and to close the gate when leaving. This will help us keep marauding deer out of the garden.
Admission is free but donations are always welcome! Such donations are used strictly for maintenance and improvement of the Centennial Rose Garden.
Enjoy your visit!