A few weeks back I was able to squeeze in a visit to one rose garden before Eye Surgery #2. I knew that by the time I got out of the hospital and did Face Down for however long…and I felt up to going back out in public…the roses would have been past their prime. So I’m grateful I got to Daehyeonsan Rose Garden in time. Because it was truly magnificent.

As much as I love roses, I’m not usually a fan of traditional rose gardens. They often feel stiff and clinical…spaced out for airflow, sure, but visually kind of…meh. I love it when rose bushes are bursting over walkways, climbing up arbors, just overflowing. And this garden had SO MANY climbing roses. Rose-covered arches around every bend. It was lovely.

I got up super early to beat the crowds. I’ve hit that point in life where if I can’t be somewhere before opening, or before other people are there, I’m out. I’ll wait for another day. So it was just me, a few dog walkers, and some ahjummas enjoying the morning.

Daehyeonsan Rose Garden is part of something bigger than just pretty flowers…it shows how Seoul keeps finding new ways to blend nature into the city.

Green spaces like this do so much more than just look nice. They give residents shade, clean the air, cool things down, and give bees and butterflies places to hang out. Gardens like this help keep different plants and animals alive, sometimes even protecting rare species that might otherwise disappear.

After the intense development boom following the Korean War, Seoul ended up pretty short on green space. But in the 1990s, the city started changing course: bringing back natural streams, turning old factory areas into parks, and finding creative ways to add green space wherever possible.

Between 1998 and 2002 alone, Seoul planted over 16 million trees. And they haven’t slowed down since. The Green Path Project wants to create 1,200 miles of connected walking trails by 2026, linking forest paths with riverside walks and downtown routes. Garden City Seoul has a huge budget of about $500 million, with the goal that every resident lives within five minutes of green space. And the 2023 Botanical Seoul initiative is adding community gardens, forest museums, and extending the Seoul Trail right into neighborhoods.

So yeah, a rose is just a rose. But this rose garden? It’s part of something much bigger…Seoul’s quiet but determined makeover into a greener, healthier place to actually live.

Daehyeonsan Rose Garden is located at 60 Dokseodang-ro 63ga-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul. It’s open 24 hours, dogs are welcome, and there are plenty of benches and even a couple of hammocks in the shade of a pergola. It gets two thumbs up from me and is definitely worth the trip.

More pictures…

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