The International Rose Test Garden is a

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

in Washington Park in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, United States. There are over 10,000 rose bushes of approximately 650 varieties. The roses bloom from April through October with the peak coming in June, depending on the weather. New rose

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

s are continually sent to the garden from many parts of the world and are evaluated on several characteristics, including disease resistance, bloom formation, color, and fragrance. It is the oldest continuously operating public rose test garden in the United States and exemplifies Portland's nickname, " City of Roses". The garden draws an estimated 700,000 visitors annually.

History

In 1915 Jesse A. Currey, president of Portland's Rose Society and Sunday editor of the Oregon Journal, convinced city officials to institute a rose test garden to serve as a safe haven during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

for hybrid roses grown in Europe. Rose lovers feared that these unique plants would be destroyed in the bombings. The Park Bureau approved the idea in 1917 and by early 1918, hybridists from England began to send roses. A decade before the test garden was proposed, of Portland's streets had been lined with rose bushes for the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition. Portland was already dubbed "The City of Roses" and the test garden was a way to solidify the city's reputation as a rose-growing center internationally. In early 1918, the garden began receiving plants from growers in England and Ireland, as well as Los Angeles, Washington and the Eastern United States. In 1921 Florence Holmes Gerke, the landscape architect for the city of Portland, was charged with designing the International Rose Test Garden and the amphitheatre. The garden was dedicated in June 1924. Currey was appointed as the garden's first rose curator and served in that capacity until his death in 1927. Since 1940, the rose garden has been one of the official testing gardens for what is now called the

All-America Rose Selections The All-America Rose Selections (AARS) is an award that was given annually, from 1940 to 2013, by the American rose industry to an outstanding new rose variety. The AARS selection was regarded as the most prestigious rose prize in the United States ...

. Originally, the garden occupied about a block, sandwiched between a playground and an elk corral. A parking lot replaced the original rose garden when the garden moved to its current location in 1928. The garden later expanded in the 1950s when Washington Park's zoo moved to its current location. The award called Portland's Best Rose was established in 1996. Rose experts from around the world attend a one-day judging in June and select the best rose that day from thousands of submissions. Portland remains the only North American city to issue such an award. By 2013, the garden's collection had expanded to over 10,000 rose bushes of over 650 varieties.

Features

The International Rose Test Garden covers in several tiers facing downtown Portland, the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

, and East Portland. On clear days, there are views of the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

, with Mount Hood featured prominently. The roses and other plantings are tended by three paid staffers and dozens of volunteers. The garden is one of eleven American Garden Rose Selections test sites in the United States. Rose breeders and distributors from across the world typically donate about 2,500 roses per year to the garden. Sometimes the garden gets roses a year or two before they're introduced to the market, but most of the roses in the garden are commercially available. The garden features an inventory that shows the names and locations for all of the roses. The Queens Walk is a brick walkway at the base of the garden with bronze plaques featuring each Queen's hand written name and year, honoring each Rose Festival queen since 1907. The plaques originally were installed in

Lambert Gardens Lambert Gardens was a botanical garden of over in the Reed neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, USA. It opened in 1930 and closed in 1968 and had a total estimated visitor count of 2,000,000, most of them believed to be out-of-towners. History And ...

near

Reed College Reed College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland neighborhood, with Tudor-Gothic style architecture, and a forested canyon nature preserve at ...

, but were moved to the International Rose Test Garden in the early 1950s.

Gardens

American Rose Society Miniature Rose Test Garden

The American Garden Rose Selection (AGRS) test garden covers two terraces of the Rose Garden. The roses testing in the garden are identified by number rather than by name; the plants are evaluated for two years by multiple criteria before being judged. The Gold Award Garden, dedicated in 1970, features award-winning roses from the AGRS Test Garden. The garden features a gazebo added in 1991, and a wall honoring past presidents of the Portland Rose Society. It is a popular site for weddings. The Royal Rosarian Garden displays roses honoring past Prime Ministers of the Royal Rosarians, a civic group which serves as the official greeters and goodwill ambassadors for the City of Portland who serve in the many Rose Festival events, and features a stone bench honoring Jesse Currey. The Royal Rosarian Garden contains many roses that are no longer commercially available. Established in 1975, the Miniature Rose Garden is a test ground to help determine what miniature roses will go to market. The Miniature Rose Garden is one of only eight such miniature rose testing grounds for the American Rose Society. The national annual American Rose Society winners are displayed in the middle of the garden along the center aisle. The Shakespeare Garden was donated by the Shakespeare Society in 1943. It originally featured botanicals mentioned in the works of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. Over time, the Shakespeare Garden has evolved, planted with summer annuals, tropical plants, year-round shrubs, and roses. The rose varieties are named after characters in Shakespeare's plays. The Shakespeare Garden includes a formal walkway and a raised sitting area.

Amenities

The Rose Garden Store opened May 1, 2000. The store sells rose-themed books, merchandise, and garden supplies. The garden includes an

amphitheater An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

designed with the original garden. It hosts many events throughout the year, predominantly

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

concerts and a few plays. During good weather, the amphitheater is popular for picnicking and

flying disc games Flying disc sports are sports or games played with discs, often called by the trademarked name Frisbees. Ultimate and disc golf are sports with substantial international followings. History The flying disc was developed in 1948 by Walter Mor ...

Public art

* '' Frank E. Beach Memorial Fountain'' (officially titled ''Water Sculpture''), an abstract stainless steel sculpture and fountain located ialong the main promenade, was designed and built by Oregon artist

Lee Kelly Lee Kelly (May 24, 1932 – March 28, 2022) was an American sculptor who has more than 30 sculptures on display between Eugene, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington. Kelly has been called "Oregon's sculptor". Personal life Born in rural McCall in ...

and dedicated in 1975. The fountain honors Frank Edwin Beach (1853-1934), the man who is said to have christened Portland the "City of Roses" and who first proposed the annual Rose Festival. * '' Royal Rosarian'' is a bronze statue located near the promenade that depicts a Royal Rosarian tipping his hat. It was created by American artist Bill Bane and dedicated in 2011.

Photo gallery

Image:RoseGardenAmpPano.jpg, The amphitheatre at the Rose Test Garden Image:RoseTestGardenPortland.jpg, One view of the many rose beds in the garden Image:Pdx_washpark_rosegarden_shakespeare.jpg, Winter in the Shakespeare Garden Image:InternationalRoseTestGarden.png, A pink rose at the Rose Test Garden, unknown

Image:Red_Rose_at_Intl_Test_Garden.JPG, An open red rose and rosebud at the Rose Test Garden, unknown cultivar Image:Rose Test Garden Sign.JPG, Roses abound throughout the garden Image:Itrg.jpg, Another view of the garden Image:rose_dew.jpg, A rose with dew on the petals, from the International Rose Test Garden Image:Pink_Roses_at_the_International_Rose_Test_Garden_in_Portland,_Oregon.JPG, Pink roses at the International Rose Test Garden Image:Rose Garden, June 2016.jpg, An aerial view, June 2016

Public access

Parking at the International Rose Test Garden costs $2 per hour, to a maximum of $8 per day. The rose garden is served by

TriMet TriMet, formally known as the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, is a public agency that operates mass transit in a region that spans most of the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Created in 1969 ...

bus route 63-Washington Park, which runs seven days a week. Washington Park Shuttle, a free service which connects the Rose Garden to

MAX light rail The Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) is a light rail system serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Owned and operated by TriMet, it consists of five color-designated lines that altogether connect the six sections ...

at the Washington Park station, operates seven days a week from April through October, and only on weekends from November through March.

References

External links

Portland Rose SocietyPortland Parks & Recreation's pageThe Royal RosariansA Year In The Portland Rose Garden
Video produced by

Oregon Field Guide ''Oregon Field Guide'' is a weekly television program produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting focusing on recreation, the outdoors, and environmental issues in the state of Oregon. The show has become part of the Oregon zeitgeist. Steve Amen is th ...

{{Roses 1917 establishments in Oregon Botanical gardens in Portland, Oregon Gardens in Oregon Parks in Portland, Oregon Rose gardens in the United States Washington Park (Portland, Oregon) Southwest Portland, Oregon