Guide-guided Tour Reader
International Rose Test Garden at Washington Park
Guided Tour
Introduction.
The tour will start here at the handicap ramp.
The 4.5 acre International Rose Test Garden at Washington Park is the oldest official, continuously operated public rose test garden in the United States.
In 2006, World Federation of Rose Societies presented the Garden of Excellence Award to the International Rose Test Garden. Only sixty-two rose gardens in the world have achieved this distinction and only ten in the United States.
Purpose.
The primary purpose of the garden is to serve as a testing ground for new rose varieties. In the beginning, hybridists were encouraged to send roses from around the world to Portland’s garden for testing.
Upkeep.
A strong contingent of volunteers supplement paid staff to maintain this garden. Admission is free, though we encourage visitor donations at several boxes in the garden. As you walk through the garden, you will see that Portland, “The City of Roses", is just about perfect for growing roses, due to the mild winters, and long growing season.
History.
Portland’s identity with roses began in 1888 when Georgiana Burton Pittock, wife of pioneer publisher Henry Pittock, invited her friends and neighbors to exhibit their roses in a tent set up in her garden. Thus began the annual rose show. Georgiana and her friends established the Portland Rose Society in 1889. Jesse A. Currey, a former Rose Society president, chose the garden’s site and convinced city fathers to inaugurate a rose test garden in 1917, with the support of the American Rose Society, City officials, and civic-minded citizens.
At that time, Portland had 20 miles of rose-bordered streets – a strategy to draw attention to the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial celebration.
As a result, Portland was dubbed “The City of Roses.”
Quick Facts About the Garden:
Over 10,000 individual rose bushes bloom, representing over 610 different rose varieties.
The display consists of modern hybrid tea, grandiflora, miniature, floribunda, David Austin, and landscape roses with a smaller collection of old garden shrub roses. Continuous deadheading (removal of old blooms) by volunteers keeps the roses blooming into the fall.
The majority of the roses in the garden are commercially available. About 10-20 varieties are replaced each year with some of the best new roses released on the market. Most of the roses removed are given to local rose societies for pruning demonstrations.
In mid -November, a group of park staff and volunteers prune the roses to 36”- 48” in height. Work is completed in one day.
In mid-February, a group of park staff and volunteers prune the roses to 18”- 24” in height. The work is usually completed in a little over a day.
The first spraying for black spot, occurs when new growth is about 3 inches, then about every 2 weeks thereafter.
The entire rose garden gets fertilized twice a year: mid-April and July.
Before going down the handicap ramp, go to the large shrub rose on your right a few feet away, labeled Rose canina, for Stop No. 1.
Rose of Antiquity
Guided Tour
Introduction.
The tour will start here at the handicap ramp.
The 4.5 acre International Rose Test Garden at Washington Park is the oldest official, continuously operated public rose test garden in the United States.
In 2006, World Federation of Rose Societies presented the Garden of Excellence Award to the International Rose Test Garden. Only sixty-two rose gardens in the world have achieved this distinction and only ten in the United States.
Purpose.
The primary purpose of the garden is to serve as a testing ground for new rose varieties. In the beginning, hybridists were encouraged to send roses from around the world to Portland’s garden for testing.
Upkeep.
A strong contingent of volunteers supplement paid staff to maintain this garden. Admission is free, though we encourage visitor donations at several boxes in the garden. As you walk through the garden, you will see that Portland, “The City of Roses", is just about perfect for growing roses, due to the mild winters, and long growing season.
History.
Portland’s identity with roses began in 1888 when Georgiana Burton Pittock, wife of pioneer publisher Henry Pittock, invited her friends and neighbors to exhibit their roses in a tent set up in her garden. Thus began the annual rose show. Georgiana and her friends established the Portland Rose Society in 1889. Jesse A. Currey, a former Rose Society president, chose the garden’s site and convinced city fathers to inaugurate a rose test garden in 1917, with the support of the American Rose Society, City officials, and civic-minded citizens.
At that time, Portland had 20 miles of rose-bordered streets – a strategy to draw attention to the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial celebration.
As a result, Portland was dubbed “The City of Roses.”
Quick Facts About the Garden:
Over 10,000 individual rose bushes bloom, representing over 610 different rose varieties.
The display consists of modern hybrid tea, grandiflora, miniature, floribunda, David Austin, and landscape roses with a smaller collection of old garden shrub roses. Continuous deadheading (removal of old blooms) by volunteers keeps the roses blooming into the fall.
The majority of the roses in the garden are commercially available. About 10-20 varieties are replaced each year with some of the best new roses released on the market. Most of the roses removed are given to local rose societies for pruning demonstrations.
In mid -November, a group of park staff and volunteers prune the roses to 36”- 48” in height. Work is completed in one day.
In mid-February, a group of park staff and volunteers prune the roses to 18”- 24” in height. The work is usually completed in a little over a day.
The first spraying for black spot, occurs when new growth is about 3 inches, then about every 2 weeks thereafter.
The entire rose garden gets fertilized twice a year: mid-April and July.
Before going down the handicap ramp, go to the large shrub rose on your right a few feet away, labeled Rose canina, for Stop No. 1.
Rose of Antiquity
