The Heritage Garden
The Tyler Rose Garden has many varieties of roses, particularly hybrids with a varied history. The Heritage Garden is part of the Rose Garden with a concentration of old roses which have survived through the years, growing on their own roots without being hybridized and without many of the problems associated with modern roses.  This Heritage Rose Garden Brochure  shows the location of the garden, the classes of heritage roses and contains a list of them.
The Smith County Master Gardeners have maintained this garden, located in the southwest corner of the Rose Garden, for many years. Planted in this area, to compliment the heritage roses, are a number of perennial plants, giving a display of color throughout the growing season. Click on the  Heritage Garden Slide Show  link for pictures at the garden.

The Shade Garden

Many home gardens in the Tyler area have a lot of shade and homeowners are sometimes frustrated by the short list of plants that grow well in the shade.

To demonstrate the plants best suited to limited sunlight a shady location in the Camellia Garden area of the Tyler Rose Garden was first planted in April 1997 with a group of Hostas. The Hosta plant often does not grow well in the South and this planting was to find those which can survive the extreme heat of the summer, as well as the moderate winter of the area. For several years this group, which had over 25 varieties at one point, was evaluated regularly and a list of the best suited varieties was developed. Those remain growing in the shade garden, along with a long list of other shade loving plants, many of which are not often seen in home gardens. All are identified to help those who may want to try them in their gardens.

The IDEA Garden

Planned by the Master Gardeners and built with the cooperation of the Tyler Parks Department, this garden is the most extensive demonstration garden in Tyler.  Its development has been a major undertaking of the Smith County Master Gardeners.  Full details of the garden may be found on this website at IDEA Garden.