Yvonne Tsikata could not let them find out, leaving their roses behind. When she and her husband in 2017 from McLean, Virginia, to the nearby Great if changed, tsikata grubed 10 rose plants and grabbed them directly with everything else. Her new home offered more space to plot and play with her growing collection, but it was wildly overgrown with peeling, invasive grasses and a bamboo thicket – not exactly an empty canvas. She didn't know exactly where to start. “But I knew I had my roses,” says Tsikata.
Today she takes care of more than 300 rose varieties that organized a spectacular show from late April to early November. Four of two are climbers that open the obelisk, arbors, trees, pergola and even the chimney of the house. Strikers, Floribundas and English roses broke out in pastel colors, apricot, lavender and cream with hotter pops made of purple, corals and magenta. In the ground floor garden, an ombré parade made of pink flowers surrounds a limestone fountain, which culminates in one side in a arise with cerise zéphirine drouhins on one side and old-fashioned Edenklanter on the other side.
Tsikata is located under a romantic arcade tree in fragrant zéphirine Drouhin and Eden climbing roses.
And yet the rosy fanfare is part of a larger garden view – one of the unique but interconnected “rooms” that develop over the property that is a little more than one and a half tomorrow. Tsikata grew up in Ghana and observed how her mother tended to live tropics such as Bougainvillea and Hibiscus. Touring English gardens such as Hidcote and Sissinghurst Castle Garden taught her the power of axes and lines of vision. From the French, she learned how structure such as Boxwoods and topiaries maintains the visual intrigue of a landscape all year round. “These gardens gave me the mistake,” says Tsikata. After she retired from a 30-year career as an economist at the World Bank in 2020, she became a master gardener.
“One of my pet -peeves is not to go through and experience a garden. In mine, I played with because of it to guide someone through him,” she says. A arbor covered in Lady Banks and American column roses announces the entry of the garden. A Belgian fence Espalier extends from both sides, and through its diamond -shaped openings, you can also take a look at the grassy promenade. The central reflective pool, in which water lilies and lotuses swim, is a knot for England's Wollerton Old Hall garden, while the purple and the lime boundaries abnormal-annelle hydrangeas, which mix with iris, allies and geraniums under Lollipop-like horn bows, “recall”.
A pea gravel path winds through beds that show apricot facts roses.
Pillowy grass turns into crispy pea gries, while the curve in the European Hornbeam hedge is introducing it to the keyhole garden. Its purely white palette with rounded, desired pastures and bolero-roses frames a weapon ball. After the rose ground floor, through an allée distance with roses, including climbing lightmatines and creeping, pollinating catmint and salvia, the European formality loosens. A flag path attracts her through the shaded Woodland Walk and the garden inspired by Japanese, both with calm soundtracks with falling water.
The network of the paths seems to inspire visitors as well as their roses. “The paths create a feeling of discovery – they know that there is something else over the hedge,” she says. “A new experience is waiting in every room.
Garden Parker
Varios such as Boscobel, Geoff Hamilton and Darcey Bussell circle a limestone fountain in the ground floor garden.
David Austin Roses
Left: Tsikata Prunes Kelchdame from Shalotts that climb up an obelisk.
Right: Princess Anne David Austin Rosen bloom in depths to light pink shade.
Reflective pool
A teak bank (RH) that is embedded between the Boxwood hedges is an inviting perch to pause next to a reflective pool that is inspired by the Wollerton Old Hall Garden from the 16th century.
Pavilion + Allée Rose
Left: fragrant crown princess Margareta climbs a pavilion.
Right: Catmint and Salvia lead the romantic rose Allée, where the roses of Hellmatin and lavender climb on a arbor.
Apricot rose beds
A pea gravel path winds through beds that show apricot facts roses.
White garden
The white garden is aptly named, with the Alliums of Mount Everest, the Annabelle Hortenia, the stacked willow standards and the bolero tree roses.
Pool
A flag path leads from the pool terrace to the forest garden. Sarah Bernhardt Peonies, Catmint and Iris Bloom bloom behind the sculptural boxwood hedges.
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This article was originally presented in our September/October 2025 edition. Garden design by Yvonne Tsikata; Landscape design of Sisson Landscapes; Photography by NGoc Minh NGO; Written by Grace Haynes Wall.
Grace Haynes Wall is the Senior Home & Garden editor of Veranda, where she manages the brand's home and garden reporting. It also writes and edits stories about printing and digital platforms that ranges on topics from design and decorative arts to flower arrangements, entertainment, travel and much more. In addition, she heads the most beautiful shops in the world and the most beautiful gardens franchise companies in the world. Before he came to Veranda, Grace built her background in home and garden content as an editor Southern Living. She likes to read stories most that bring interior and landscapes to life.