The Antique Rose Emporium is a working rose nursery on the road north of Brenham that doubles as one of the best small display gardens in Texas. Eight acres are planted with hundreds of old garden rose varieties — Bourbons, Chinas, Teas, Noisettes, ramblers and species roses — laid out around restored 19th-century farm buildings moved to the site from elsewhere in Washington County.
The gardens are open daily, free, and at their peak twice a year: late April for the spring flush, October for the autumn one. The on-site nursery sells the same plants the gardens display, mostly own-root and field-grown. Even non-gardeners enjoy the place for the buildings, the herbs and perennials, and the slow pace.