ALAS! You probably won't be passing through TX.

If you WERE, I'd recommend the Antique Rose Emporium's display garden, near Brenham, TX. Also, near Dallas/Ft. Worth, the Chambersville Rose Garden, which is largely Teas, Chinas, and Noisettes.

BEAUTIFUL desert country along I-40, through New Mexico and Eastern Arizona (NOT roses, tho).

And, if you pass through Amarillo, TX, do be sure to see the Cadillac Ranch. ;-) Again -- no roses.

When you get to California, if you are coming over I-80, down into Sacramento, there are some lovely old Gold Rush towns up and down Hwy. 49. Many are fairly close to I-80. (There, you want to seek out the old Cemeteries.)

WEST of Sacramento, there is the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden, in San Jose, CA.

Jeri

Take a look at Sonnenberg outside Rochester. There have also been display gardens in Buffalo near the lake. Wooster is also on that general route. Schenectady has a fairly large HT garden in the municipal park. It is maybe 5 miles from the Thruway.

This is assuming you are starting out on I-90, then heading south to I-80 somewhere in Ohio. It has the advantage of not getting mixed up in NYC traffic.

jerijen, thanks; I've visited the Antique Rose Emporium, found a lipstick-red rugosa named "Robusta" which now graces my garden. The Cadillac Ranch was a terrific stop on my XC trip about 6 years ago. I took my recumbent bike with me and biked 17 mi. to the other end of town and back, took photos of my bike with the tilted car bodies.

I loved NM and AZ and vestiges of Route 66. I might be returning along Rt. 40, especially if I buy a potted rose or 2 and could therefore keep them in the car overnight, since it wouldn't be freezing yet along Rt. 40, mid-October.

Any rose gardens blooming then, in OH, IL, St. Louis, Arkansas?

madgallica, thanks. I will look into NY state, and you're right: I'd start on I-90 then angle down to I-80 by the time I reach the Mississippi River.

There's lots of time to plan this trip, so I"d welcome more suggestions for roses to see then.

Carol

I second the recommendation of the Sonnenberg Gardens in NY. One of my sisters used to live in Canandaigua, and she took me there for a visit. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It would be a pretty zigzaggy route to include this other destination, but if you find yourself near Asheville, NC, you might enjoy visiting the gardens at Biltmore House. They were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and do feature roses.

And if you happen to be near Omaha, Nebraska on your trip, you will be near an excellent Lauritzen Gardens, a superb arboretum and botanical garden. I know, you're thinking Nebraska? I was too, and boy was I wrong. It knocked my socks off; well worth the stop. And the older neighborhoods of the city are quite lovely, too.

These are three I have personally visited that I can recommend.

Rosefolly

Carol, if you bring your bike along, maybe you and I will have time to ride on the American River Parkway in Sacramento. I am a cyclist, too (although I ride upright bikes).

If you go by Holden Arboretum in Ohio, I've heard it's worth a stop although not for roses. Jackie, one of our former GW members, works there and has invited me via Facebook to come any time I'm in that area - hope to see it later this fall. The Garden of Roses of Legend and Romance has mostly once-bloomers, so don't think you'd see much bloom, but if you are going near Wooster, OH, it's worth a stop, I would think.

Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis is famous and has gotten rave reviews from friends who have been there, but again, I don't think it's much for roses.

Once you are in California, there are a number of gardens to see.
Anita

Canandaigua NY, St. Louis MO and Omaha NE it is! Plus a few others. Thanks, guys. Message to jerijen: I LOVE the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden. I visited it 6 years ago with my camera, a notebook and my nose, and spent 3 hours there looking at (and smelling) everything, before I went home to order roses for my own garden.
Message to cemeteryrose: We could do a nice little bike ride, probably after the Symposium weekend - good idea!

Any other garden visit suggestions? Seen Huntington in Pasadena, Descanso, Palos Verdes, San Juan Bautista. Haven't seen Quarry Hill yet. I've seen a bunch in CA, need other states. Roses would be great but I'll deign to look at other kinds of gardens :)

Carol

Isn't there a garden in the Sierra foothills off I-80 that was where the owner of Filoli started? Near a mining town? Near Grass Valley? I could visit there too.

If you are coming through Tulsa the Tulsa Municipal Rose Garden is nice and should have many blooming roses in October. July and August are so hot here that roses can become semi-dormant with Sept. and Oct. having a blooming cycle almost as big as the Spring.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tulsa Municipal Rose Garden

The Oklahoma City Rose Garden is not nearly as nice as Tulsa's but is a nice stop.

Here is a link that might be useful: Oklahoma City Rose Garden

On a much smaller scale but of more personel interest, I have been spending many hours reestablishing the Prague Rose Garden in Prague, Oklahoma. While still maturing it will have come along way by October and is hardly recognizable compared to when I blogged about it in December. It has the benefit of being halfway between Tulsa and OKC. Go Thunder!

Here is a link that might be useful: Prague Rose Garden Club

Oh excellent advice, wellrounded. I could hit Prague, Tulsa and OKC on my way back east. Also, I found another CA garden: Empire Mine State Park in Grass Valley, which is close to I-80, the highway over the Sierra.

So it's a veritable garland, this trip of mine. Plus I get to see some of the CA (and elsewhere) rose fanatics I've been reading posts of for years!

Carol

The Tulsa Municipal Rose Garden is by far the best of the rose gardens in our area. And while it was more than a few years ago the English Rosarian Harry Wheatcraft pronounced it the finest in design and maintenance he had seen in the United States. In fact, the Woodward Park offers many other gardening opportunities but I go there for the roses.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tulsa Municipal Rose Garden