If you like Roses, Portland, OR is the place for you. They don’t call us the City of Roses for nothing! There are more than 500,000 visitors to the gardens each year. But not to worry, at over 4.5 acres – there is plenty of room for everybody.
Portland, OR is home to the International Rose Test Garden. Founded in 1917, it’s the oldest Rose Test Garden in the United States! The Portland Rose Gardens were setup in Portland during WWI to help protect rose varieties from being destroyed in Europe. Despite this past winters sudden and unexpected performace – Portland is an ideal location to grow roses. We have mild winters and long spring seasons with plenty of mid range temperatures. But Portland’s affiliation with roses began well before the Garden’s were created. The Pittock family started featuring a rose festival in their garden around 1888. The festival was so popular and grew very quickly, leaving Portland with it’s famous nickname, “The City of Roses”. If you look around the Portland buildings – you will often see large murals painted on them of roses.
Admission to the Portland Rose Gardens is free, however there are several donation stations in the park if you are feeling generous. Most people are so overwhelmed with how clean and well maintained the park is, donations are very common and definitely appreciated. The best time to visit the garden’s is July-September when the most flowers are in bloom. However for a quieter experience, June is lovely and green. Parking is limited until 2018 due to a new water project taking place in Washington Park. Visitors are encouraged to take the Max light rail. Don’t forget to bring your camera! The Portland Rose Gardens are beautiful not just because of all the lovely flowers, but also because of the design of the parks. They are stunning and something you certainly don’t get to see everyday!
August 26th 2017 is the centennial celebration at the Portland Rose Gardens. From 11:00am to 8:00pm you can celebrate the garden’s history with food, music, art and family fun for all ages! Come see more than 10,000 individual rose plants and experience one of Portland’s most stunning and historic parks. Click Here for details!