I'm actually taking a short trip up to the Bay Area next week myself. The last time I was there I don't recall being particularly struck by the "Rose Garden" in Golden Gate Park. The Botanical Garden is wonderful and has a handful of roses, but I wouldn't go expecting a traditional rose garden.

I have yet to visit, but Morcom Rose Park in Oakland sounds interesting at the very least. The Berkeley Municipal Rose Garden is fun to take a stroll through. It's walkable from the Downtown Berkeley Bart if you're willing to hoof it uphill a bit. The UC Berkeley Botanical Garden has a section dedicated to old roses, but I forget the extent of the collection.

I never visited or ordered from Vintage unfortunately and I'm not sure whether its gardens are still open despite the closure, but Sepastapol is at least an hour drive from SF I believe. Not a rose nursery, but Annies Annuals in Richmond is somewhere I've been meaning to visit. If you're able or willing to make a day trip, the San Jose Rose Garden and San Jose Heritage Rose Garden both seem worth the trip.

I hope others chime in with ideas!

Jay

I spent three weeks in Palo Alto in 2001 while my husband was at Stanford and was lucky to have a friend drive me around. We went to FIloli Gardens in Woodside with a formal rose garden of mostly modern roses (and many other gardens), to the Regan Nursery in Fremont and to the Sunset Gardens in Menlo Park.

One weekend my husband and I went to the SJHRG in San Jose, the Japanese Hakone Garden in Saratoga (wonderful but no roses) and the Golden Gate Park in SF. As a Swede I thought some distances were a bit long but I don't know what you'd think. SF is 48 miles away from San Jose by car, a reasonable distance I think.

I drive 40 miles each way to work, so that would be easy for me. I will definitely want to check out SJHRG. The Japanese Garden sounds interesting too. Thanks.

It's not all that far to the San Jose Heritage rose garden. It's magnificent.

The garden that I love is in Sacramento, at the old cemetery. HUGE roses grown well and well labeled. Think of it as a day trip out to Savannah.

In and out burgers for sustenance. Then back to the rose gardens.

What will 'get' you is that lots of houses have roses growing well. It took me a while to get the "They don't have to spray for black spot" idea into my head.

Buford the Vintage garden hasn't been open for a long time. Right now there is house demolition and construction too. I haven't been to the gardens at Alcatraz, but it really seems like a fun excursion. I think you would enjoy Filoli, though I was unimpressed with the rose garden. The Morcum Garden and the Berkeley rose garden are nice. The SJHRG and the San Jose municipal rose garden are minutes away from each other. There is also the Santa Clara University fence(near both these). It's a (I think) mile of climbers and ramblers. There is a small rose garden at Mission Delores(SF). I think it would only be an hours drive to go to the Sacramento Historic Cemetery Garden. This would be the one not to miss.
I know you'll have lots of fun.

Thanks. The Cemetery was the one I was thinking about. I really want to keep myself busy during the days so I don't get tempted to shop, or worse, answer work emails! I will definitely hit Sacramento as well as San Jose.

Ann, I know I am going to get depressed seeing all these beautiful healthy roses and thinking 'they don't have to spray! Not fair!'.

Not roses, but I love the Muir Redwoods just across the Golden Gate bridge. http://www.nps.gov/muwo/index.htm

I have wanted to visit the Luther Burbank Home and Garden. http://www.lutherburbank.org/

If you have time for a drive down the coast, Carmel is very pretty and has a nice mission http://www.carmelmission.org/

And you could probably stop at San Juan Bautisa on the way back http://www.oldmissionsjb.org/

The best rose garden is definitely the one at the Sacramento Historic Cemetery. I would plan to do that one, and then fit in some of the other good suggestions (I would pick the SJHRG second) as you can.

Here is the link for the Cemetery - it is truly amazing! Check the weather - if it is hot, try to get there early (please note - it can be in the 50s in SF and in the 100s in Sacramento on the same day - be sure to pack sweaters and jackets for SF, and cool clothes and a sun hat or parasol for Sacramento). The weather in Sacramento in August can be brutal, but the good news is that it cools off every night (low humidity), so early mornings and evenings are nice.

"www.cemeteryrose.org"

Jackie

Thanks Jackie, it will be like going to the World Market in the middle of summer. It can be 100 out and I need to bring in a sweater because they keep it so cold. And 100 with no humidity probably won't phase me at this point. Although I will bring a hat. I have to put together a list of all these places and map them out. I will probably rent a car.

If you are a wine enthusiast, Napa/Sonoma wine country is about 1.5 hours northeast of San Francisco. There's also great restaurants, shopping etc.

Many like to visit Dean and Deluca for a casual lunch and often leave with bags of goodies to cart or have sent home.

In an old thread, someone mentioned that the Napa/Sonoma region is the best place to grow roses in the country. I have not visited a garden there, but if you visit the area, it will definitely appear that roses thrive there.

Lynn

The Sacramento City Cemetery;
The San Jose Heritage Rose Garden;
The small city of San Juan Bautista, and it's hilltop cemetery;
Quarryhill Botanical Garden

(JERI)

Filoli is wonderful.

I visited the Luther Burbank home a few years ago. Really interesting. We need to remember that at the beginning of the 20th century many Americans were still farmers. Luther Burbank was like the Steve Jobs, or Bill Gates of his time.

I find the Gold Hill Luther Burbank garden more interesting than the downtown home and garden.
I forgot about Quarry Hill. Those places could be a nice day trip a long with a couple of wineries.
One thing I forgot to mention is the Berkeley Botanic garden. It's a beautiful place and there are roses too.