Friday, June 13, 2014

City of Roses


"For you a rose in Portland grows."




Portland, Oregon is known as the Rose City.  It's cool, wet spring climate is perfect for growing these lovely flowers. 




In late May, colorful rosebuds explode into bloom all over town.




Portland celebrates it's Rose Festival in early June.  Two weeks of events culminate with the Grand Floral Parade.  Similar to the New Year's Tournament of Roses parade, it features floats decorated with thousands of brightly colored roses.




Portland has a huge rose garden located in Washington Park.  It's a designated International Rose Test Garden, one of 24 official testing sites for the All-America Rose Selections (AARS).  This organization is dedicated to the introduction and promotion of exceptional roses.




Early June is the perfect time for a tour of the Washington Park rose garden.  Rows upon rows of brightly-colored, fragrant roses cover the grounds. A great place for a stroll.




Of course, I don't have to travel all the way to Washington Park to get my rose fix.  My hubby maintains his own little rose garden right in our front yard.




He grows several varieties of roses, in many gorgeous colors.




I was home this morning, and noticed the blossoms were covered in droplets from last night's rain.




Fantastic photo ops - right in my own yard!




This pale pink rose was my favorite. 




No - this last photo isn't a rose - it's a dew-spangled tulip from over a month ago.  It was so pretty I just had to include it too.

Have a flower-filled weekend!


Sharing with:  Weekly Top Shot.

21 comments:

  1. Absolutely stunning shots!!! And how fortunate for you that they are in your own garden!!! Our Glendale home is next door to Pasadena which I always think of as Rose City...I'm going to have to visit Portland next June!!!

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  2. Gorgeous collection of roses and images, Linda! Have a happy weekend!

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  3. Hi,Nice collection of your husband rose garden photos. Your photos are breathtakingly beautiful. Some of them look like Royal Highness. Thanks for sharing. Wishing you a wonderful weekend.

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  4. Gorgeous photos! Thanks for sharing them. Have a wonderful weekend.

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  5. I suspect Oregon has nearly perfect weather for growing roses! These are beautiful, as is the tulip.

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  6. Beautiful roses! I don't have any roses, just a bunch of iris that are blooming right now and beautiful.

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  7. Simply breathtaking, Linda!!! Wow!

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  8. The one time I was in Portland (for a day) was during the rose festival. Beautiful photos and flowers.

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  9. Your photography is exceptional. What magnificent blooms! If that's how they bloom in your garden, I definitely have to visit in June.

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  10. beautiful photos :) it is approaching pruning time for us here in Oz - I miss seeing my roses already - so I will sit and admire yours :) I will have to wait until September/October before mine start flowering again :(

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  11. Gorgeous roses (and tulip)--the raindrops just add to their beauty! LOVE!
    Blessings,
    Aimee

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  12. Lovely roses. I like photo ops in my home area as well. I was gonna get another rose bush this year but didn't. I have a rose bush that's lasted for 24 years, first one I planted the next year after we moved in!!

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  13. Nice flowers. I like how each one is in a different phase of bloom.

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  14. Stunning photos!

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  15. To answer your question, I did hike to the top of Pulpit Rock, and I'll post photos soon.

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  16. Lovely roses, spectacular photos!

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  17. What a wonderful roses. Colors look very bright and beautiful. Water on them gives them further beauty!

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  18. Stunning photos. Really love the raindrops, just gorgeous. I'm thrilled to have found your blog. Lynda from Australia

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