In my previous blog: “Family Travel: Time To Stop and Smell The Roses” I tried to encourage you to get out and discover the fragrant blossoms blooming at your local botanical garden.
My family took advantage of the wonderful spring-like temperatures on Mother’s Day to take a tour of our local gardens and I just got the pictures I took there back today. I am happy to report that the shots of my daughter next to the roses came out beautifully. Which is why I am anxious for you to get out and explore your local rose garden–even if it means traveling a distance to get to one–it’s worth the trip.
If you live on the West Coast of the United States head to Portland, Oregon, which is also known as the “City of Roses.” Portland earned its nickname after thousands of pink rose bushes were planted around the area in 1902. In 1907 the city hosted its first annual Portland Rose Festival, which is celebrating its centennial this year. The city is also home to Peninsula Park Rose Garden, which opened its gates for the first time back in 1912. The city’s best known rose garden, in Washington Park, was established during World War I, when roses were shipped there from European gardens to safeguard them from wartime destruction. The park is located on a terraced hill in the center of the city and is simply breathtaking. The fragrance is intoxicating. Really, the entire place is just magical. Give credit to Portland’s cool, wet weather, which roses love. The blossoms at Washington Park are huge and their colors are so intensely vibrant it’s hard to resist picking them.
If you live on the East Coast, consider strolling around the Elizabeth Park garden in Connecticut, which opened in 1904. If you live in the Midwest head over to the Lyndale Park Rose Garden in Minneapolis, which was created in 1907 and claims to be the second-oldest municipal garden in the United States. In all of these early 20th century gardens the roses were planted in flowerbeds without the walls or fences that older climbing varieties needed. The new hybrids of roses are big, fluffy, showy roses, with a more intense fragrance than their predecessors.
Which means that if you stick your child’s face next to one of them and have him or her say “cheese,” you are almost guaranteed a prize-winning pic. That’s got to be incentive for some of you to get out and explore a rose garden.
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