MY CHAUFFEUR
  • ask PHIL
  • Search
  • Let's Go!

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


Picture
GET PRICE QUOTE
BOOK IT
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

You may also like. . .

14 Exciting Individual or Combination TOURS; Including 4 Of The 'Seven Wonders of Oregon'*
SERVICE WITHIN THE PORTLAND CITY LIMITS STATUS: CLICK HERE.
STATUS OF INDIVIDUAL TOURS: CLICK ON THE TOUR LINKS
Portland City Tour
Mt. Saint Helens
Columbia River Gorge Tour
Distilleries Tour
Wine Country Tour
Crater Lake Tour
Urban Winery Tour
Mount Hood Tour
Breweries Tour
Firehouse and Architectural History Tour
Oregon Coast tour
Cannabis tour
Silver Falls tour
Portland Walking tour
Be Treated Like Royalty...With Special Personalized Attention From Your Chauffeur
"Now Tread We a Measure With My Chauffeur!"
*Photos - Wikimedia GNU Free Documentation License applies. Photo Attributes: Portland City Tour: Author: Cacophony - Columbia River Gorge Tour: Author: Kelvin Kay - Mt. St. Helens: Author: Gripso_Banana_Prune - Oregon Coast Tour: Author: Oregon Dept of Transportation - Distilleries Tour: Author: Visitor7 - Breweries Tour: Author: Person Creations - Mt. Hood Tour: Author: Oregon's Mt Hood Territory - Crater Lake Tour: Author: WolfmanSF
Picture
503-969-4370
TourPortland.com
PRICE QUOTE
When you "ring" to make your booking, just let us know what your tour requirements (interests) are, and we will do the rest for you.
BOOK NOW
Picture
Misc./ Services
​HOME
Tours of Portlandia
Wine Tour
Airport Transfers
LEGAL
Drivers
Company
​TOUR DIRECTORY
About
Order Rack Cards
Vehicles | 
Drivers
Testimonials
​Special Offers
Support
​Ask PHIL
Contact
SITE MAP
FAQs
Terms of Use
​Privacy Policy
Picture
Picture
PORTLAND
​© COPYRIGHT 1998-2025 ALL RIGHTS RES.
​
~POWERED BY MY CHAUFFEUR~
​My Chauffeur Office Hours - Daily 7am - 9pm (PT)
​EMAIL: [email protected]

All Pricing On This Website Is Subject to Change Until Confirmed.
**Photos - Wikimedia GNU Free Documentation License
​
  • ask PHIL
  • Search
  • Let's Go!