From the earliest days of the cemetery’s history, roses, trees and herbaceous plants filled family plots. English evergreen trees with their symbolism of eternal life were planted at the head of a plot. A rose added to the same planting hole enabling the rose and the tree to grow together.

In the year 2000 members of Heritage Roses Otago began restorative work of the roses in the cemetery as a gift to the city to recognise the millennium. Twenty years on members have identified approximately 150 original roses, known as memorial roses. These roses, being over 100 years old, receive special care to ensure their survival. In addition, another 1400 odd heritage roses have been added and are scattered throughout the cemetery. They include samples of all the rose families eg species, gallica, damask, china, rugosa, etc.

The cemetery is home to ten special rose collections including the National Scots rose collection, a plant of every root-stock rose grown used in NZ, and roses rescued and saved by the National NZ Heritage Rose Register. The latter are ‘mother plants’ providing propagation material in the future.

Many significant specimen trees grow in the cemetery. The memorial trees can identified by their placement at the head of a plot. This planting took place at the time of the first burial. The Irish and English yew and a variety of ilex (holly) being the most frequently planted. In 1872, the Dunedin Botanic Garden donated a significant number of trees to the cemetery to enhance the original goal of being ornament to the surrounding country. Today, many are fine specimens, one being the outstanding sequoiadendron giganteum. In the same year, the outside border was planted with a hawthorn hedge to act as a windbreak to the ornamental plants within the cemetery.

 The Dunedin Northern Cemetery is a place of interest all year round. The rose display begins in October with the species first to flower. Many roses quickly follow with the peak being late November and early December.