Oregon Rose Gardens
The climate in western Oregon is ideal for growing roses; rose lovers delight in the abundance of rain and mild summers and winters. Portland, Oregon's largest and best-known city, is called "The City of Roses" because of the lush roses and rose gardens that grow there.
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History
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The history of rose gardens in Oregon begins in the early 1900s with the creation of Peninsula Park Rose Garden in north Portland. Later, in 1917, the International Rose Test Garden was established. According RoseGardenStore.org--the official Portland rose gardens website--the International Rose Test Garden is the "oldest official, continuously operated public rose test garden in the United States." Since then, rose gardens of all styles, sizes and types have sprung up across western Oregon.
Size
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Oregon rose gardens range greatly in size. The Peninsula Park Rose Garden contains more than 10,000 roses covering 2 acres. Another large rose garden is the Owen Rose Garden in Eugene, which offers 4,500 roses in more than 400 varieties. Those looking for a smaller and more intimate experience can visit a rose garden included in a nursery, such as Heirloom Roses Nursery in St. Paul, which includes three gardens and more than 1,500 roses.
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Style
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Oregon is host to both free-growing and manicured rose gardens. Bramble & Rose Nursery feeds and nurtures its roses through the first growing season and then leaves them to grow or to die on their own. In contrast, Owen Rose Garden includes paved walkways, a picnic area, a gazebo and other attractions on its grounds. The planting beds house not only roses but other annual and perennial plants that attract visitors year-round. Between these extremes lies the Salem Municipal Rose Garden, which includes manufactured paved paths for joggers, bicyclers and strollers yet also maintains a designated area in its "natural state": an orchard and pasture area filled with trees, shrubs, ferns and wildflowers.
Types
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Some rose gardens specialize in a specific type of rose, while others incorporate various types into their gardens. Heirloom Roses includes more than 1,500 varieties, which are grown outdoors and in greenhouses. In contrast, the Owen Rose Garden houses 400 varieties. Bramble and Rose Nursery specializes in growing only "old rose" and "own root" varieties of roses.
Portland Rose Gardens
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The Portland Rose Gardens are the most famous rose gardens in Oregon. The oldest is Ladd's Addition, which is made up of four diamond-shaped plots of land in the middle of the Ladd's Addition housing community. The Peninsula Park Rose Garden is a sunken garden that holds 10,000 traditional roses plants on more than 2 acres. The main function of the International Rose Test Garden is to test new rose varieties and hybrids. Included in this garden are the Gold Medal Garden, the Miniature Garden (which is one of only six testing gardens of this type), the Shakespeare Garden and the Royal Rosarian Garden.
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References
- Photo Credit Rose image by chobi from Fotolia.com
