Old Parliament House Gardens, Canberra

Since the 1930s, hundreds of varieties of roses have bloomed in these gardens. They're now popular Instagram backdrops along with the spring-time wisteria-arched walkways and manicured lawns.

The corner of a pergola with white timber covered in trails of white flowers.

Over the years, the gardens have witnessed friendly rivalry on the bowling green, prime ministers on the cricket pitch and energetic games of tennis between teams from the Reps and the Senate. Today, they're the perfect spots for a picnic, a stroll, or to burn off some energy.

Caring for our rose gardens

As part of our ongoing commitment to preserving the heritage values of the gardens at Old Parliament House, we are replanting roses in front of the building.

The gardening works are due to be completed in early September.

A black and white arial shot of a Old Parliament House, a large white building, surrounded by newly cleared land with planted trees.

Aerial view of Parliament House in 1928 showing the beginnings of the formal gardens. Photograph National Archives of Australia: A3560, 4910

This sepia photograph depicts the undeveloped landscape around Parliament House in 1927 when the building first opened. The building sits in the centre of the image and to the left of the building are a few sad looking shrubs and the outline of the boundary of what would eventually become the House of Representatives Garden.

When parliamentarians relocated from Melbourne in 1927, they were greeted with a broadly undeveloped landscape, vastly different from what they were accustomed to in Melbourne. Photograph NLA: obj-147018784-1