Sunday, October 20, 2013

Portland Rose Garden

This afternoon, we stopped by the Portland Rose Garden near the Japanese Gardens. It was a warm, sunny day with temperatures approaching 70°F and generally clear skies. There was little remaining of the morning fog. I went up to pick up my brother in-law as neice who arrived back from a short trip to the right coast. This was one of the few stunning examples remaining in the gardens. I think that this is after the normal season as most of the bushes had few, if any, blooms.


This was a miniature variety. I am not a botanist and can't remember any of the names of the different flowers from one second to the next. There was a pretty good crowd there taking advantage of the beautiful weather. Everyone mentioned how wet and rainy September was but October has been wonderful.

The fall colors were out and there was plenty of red on the hills but still much less than the more common yellows and browns. Again, I have no idea what kind of tree this was but I really liked the color especially with the bright afternoon sun.

In the distance you can see the snow covered peak of Mt. Hood over the tops of some of the buildings of downtown Portland. This is the view from in front of the Rose Garden gift shop looking. The Japanese Garden would be behind me and further up the hill. I still get lost navigating Portland as I don't have a good mental picture of all of the areas, highways and neighborhoods.

Down the hill from the Rose Garden is the Children's Park with this nice play area. My niece burned up a little energy here after being sitting still from the cross country flight. A few more photos from the Rose Garden.




12 comments:

  1. Nice to see Portland so colorful. Most of the red leaves around here are maple trees. Might be the same in Portland too. Yesterday sure was a beautiful day when the fog burned off.

    Brad was out with PolarBear on the dirt bikes having entirely too much fun.

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    1. It was a wonderful afternoon in Portland once the fog burned off.

      You may have to get another dirt bike so you can have the same fun...

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  2. How lovely, Richard. I have very fond memories of Portland. Thanks for rekindling it. A city I could live in.

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    1. But it is still a city. There was a lot of traffic and navigating all the streets and freeways proved to be a challenge. Maybe I could get used to such traffic again but it wouldn't be my first choice.

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  3. Those look like maples, but the color is so intense that it's hard to see the leaf shape! I always thought OR plants were luminous, almost neon like because the wet increases the color saturation. Spectacular.

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    1. I don't know what they are but with the sun shining on them (or in some cases through them) the red leaves look wonderful. Are all maples red or just a couple of species?

      The colors of the roses were spectacular though there were very few colors besides red at this time of year.

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  4. Richard:

    For some reason we keep bypassing Portland. I usually turn right at Longview and head to the coast. and when I come back from Corvallis, I am in a rush to get home so I just whizz past.

    I know they are famous for their Gardens, and there is also a Japanese garden there. Plus they are known for their food trucks and Voodoo doughnuts.

    Maybe one day . . .

    at least you had some relaxing time with family

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast

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    1. Portland is a beautiful city with lots of trails, geocaches, gardens and cheap public transportation. What's not to like?

      Voodoo Doughnuts and the variety of food trucks is pretty nice and there seems to be thriving foodie culture for those that want variety.

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  5. Did you visit the farm to see for yourself how lunch was raised? I watched one episode of Portlandia and decided a one joke storyline would be tedious.
    I wonder why it takes a rugged pacific northwest climate to bring out those recyclable values in an entire population? If they sprinkled a little, just a little pixie dust in Key West I wonder how our recycling program would take off?

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    1. I don't know. The recycling programs here seem well established and seems to be embraced by everyone. Also, not only cheap public transportation but lots of bicycles, electric vehicle charging stations (actually in use) and tons of walking paths.

      No visits to any farms though...

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  6. Richard you always take such beautiful pictures. Thanks for the treat!

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    1. Thank you for the compliment! All of these pictures are un-modified iPhone snapshots. I think it is the quality of the subject matter. The roses were beautiful. After all, Portland is called the "City of Roses".

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