Portland Rose Garden

Portland was already known as the "City of Roses" at this time due to the twenty miles of rose-bordered streets. As World War I began in Europe, many hybridists sent roses from all over to Portland's garden to keep them safe from the war.

Beginning in 1919 and continuing today, the City of Portland issues Gold Medals to the best new roses.The Gold Award rose garden was constructed in 1969 to commemorate 50 years of Gold Medal winners. Today it is also a popular spot for weddings to take place.

The Miniature Rose Garden was developed in 1978 and is one of only six testing grounds for the American Rose Society's miniature rose testing program.

The Shakespeare Garden was dedicated in 1945. It was originally intended for herbs, trees and flowers that were featured in Shakespeare's plays. Due to the growth of the trees providing too much shade for many of these plants, today the garden features roses named after characters from these plays instead.

The Royal Rosarian Garden honors the Royal Rosarian civic group who serve as official greeters and ambassadors for the City.

The Queen's Walk was begun in 1952 in honor of all past, present and future Queens of the annual Rose Festival.

The Portland Rose Garden contains 10,000 plantings of 550 varieties of roses in 4.5 acres… and that's just in the test garden! Nine thousand plantings of 65 varieties can be found in the 2 acre Peninsula Park Rose Garden.

The Rose Garden itself is located in Washington Park, which is also home to the Oregon Zoo, the Hoyt Arboretum, the Forest Discovery Center, the Japanese Garden, the Childrens Museum, and the Oregon Holocaust Memorial. The Peninsula Park Rose Garden is located in north Portland separate from the Test Garden, but is also a part of the Rose Garden. The Test Garden is open from 7am to 9pm every day of the year.

The Portland Rose Gardens are the site of concerts, weddings and other special events year round. The flowers begin to bloom in May and are in full bloom by the beginning of June. In most years, the colorful show is still going full force by Columbus Day, and in some years it even continues into November.

Besides all this excitement, the garden is full of rose varieties that are beloved by all and some that are extremely rare. You'll be able to trace the history of rose development in this country in the Gold Medal garden, which features the best of the best.

The various gardens offer a bountiful display of color and variety that may take you a few days to totally explore.

Worth a trip to Portland Oregon I would say!

Go to Information on the Portland Rose Festival

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