A Day at Portlands International Test Garden

Spending a day at the Portland rose garden (technically known as the International Rose Test Garden) was a delightful experience filled with the beauty and fragrance of a thousand roses.

The extensiveness and vastness was highly impressive – I was not prepared for how many varietals of roses we were about the see!

There are 4 acres of over 10,000 rose shrubs throughout the garden, an outdoor amphitheater, various plants and trees and four different specialty gardens.

Getting There

Located in Washington Park, it’s in close proximity to Portland city if you are located nearby.

By car, take the US26 to Exit 72 towards the Oregon Zoo and Forestry Center. Then follow the signs all the way to the garden entrance.

The parking is slightly limited in Washington Park, especially during the summer months. Plan accordingly if using a car. In addition you can take public transportation and visit in the early hours of the day to avoid the crowds.

Don’t bother driving to the garden in the afternoon on a summer weekend. Or at least expect you’ll be searching for parking for awhile.

Around 40% of visitors will arrive in alternate forms of transportation such as rideshare, walking, biking, or using the park shuttle.

When to Visit

The garden is open daily from dusk till dawn.

Admission to enter the grounds is always free.

The best time to visit the garden is when roses bloom from late May to October. This will always be dependent however on the weather of the Pacific Northwest region.

Note that pruning season begins in early November and continues throughout winter.

I visited during the month of August and thought this was perfect.

Oregon can be rainy throughout the year but August had beautiful, warm weather. Although slightly cloudy in during the morning hours, it was still a pleasant time. The white clouds actually magnified the colors throughout the grounds.

History

The garden was officially inaugurated back in 1917 making it the oldest and longest running test garden in America.

The sole purpose of the test garden was to test and create new rose varieties in a safe space during World War I.

Volunteers and hybridists have worked to create the strongest and most beautiful variety of roses for the past 107 years.

The Gardens ‘Must See’

With more than 10,000 individual rose bushes throughout the gardens, a total of about 610 different rose varietals reside on these grounds.

The entire garden encompasses over four acres of land with four specialty gardens within the property.

The Royal Rosarian Garden honors past Rosarian “prime minister” members, who have all played an important role in honoring and supporting the garden.

The Gold Medal Garden features roses named after past gold metal award winners.

The Shakespeare Garden located in the southern corner of the grounds, incorporates roses that are all named after characters from his plays.

This area of the grounds offers more shade and various plants included with the roses.

The Test Garden holds roses that are currently in their testing or trial stages of growth. These roses will live here for about two years until a new set of roses begin testing.

Except for the test roses, you can find the majority of these roses available for purchase at most nurseries.

The Grounds

Guests are welcomed to sit on the grass and have a picnic in the garden.

Alternatively, there are benches throughout the garden as well, including an outdoor amphitheater.

I recommend sitting along the amphitheater for a picnic or just to enjoy the scenery.

On clear days, visitors can enjoy views of downtown Portland, Mt. Hood and even the Cascade Range volcanoes.

The International Test Garden is a wonderful place to visit in the Portland area if you are looking for a relaxing, quiet morning.

The scale of the garden grounds extended larger than I had originally imagined. Equally impressed at the quality and quantity of roses and other various plants and trees throughout.

For more information on the garden, please visit the Washington Park website with updated hours, directions and information.

Learn more about traveling to the Pacific Northwest here.