Identification and quotation signs are placed in the garden during the season and provide an opportunity for a self-guided tour.

Visitors may observe the signage garden, the long gardens including a small Knot Garden, and The Highlight Garden which is planted each year with a selection of herbs, flowers and vegetables mentioned in the plays of the season. The large Rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis) has become a familiar source of enjoyment for theatre patrons.

In honor of CSF's dedication to the production of the series of plays dealing with the Wars of the Roses, a Wars of the Roses Garden was planted next to Hellems Building in 1998. The White Rose of York, The Red Rose of Lancaster and the York & Lancaster Rose are old roses which bloom once a year in early June. Modern David Austin English red and white roses are growing between the old roses and bloom throughout the summer. Fragrant Lavender plants surround the roses.

The Shakespeare Gardens are designed, planted and maintained by the volunteer members of Colorado Shakespeare Gardens. Members gather to discuss the plays with particular emphasis on plant and horticultural references. Selections of research on the culture, history, legends, and medicinal uses of the plants are presented by members and published on this web site.

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Colorado Shakespeare Gardens was named CSF's Volunteer of the Year, 1996

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Shakespeare's acute observations of the livelihood of the plants, and his ability to reference from this keen awareness is a constant source of delight. It is of interest that no matter the setting of his play, whether Egypt, Rome, Illyria or Venice...the plants are the plants of Shakespeare's England which he observed on walks about his native Warwickshire countryside and those viewed in the more formal gardens of London.

Marlene P. Cowdery
Founder, Colorado Shakespeare Gardens