Experience the lush, beautiful gardens of Portland. EcoShuttle offers an earth-friendly transportation means to take in the tranquil, aromatic atmosphere. Finish your holiday shopping at any of the fabulous gift shops!
The Rose Garden
The most famous of Portland‘s gardens is the International Rose Test Garden. Here roses of every color and variety are displayed in neat beds in a terraced park overlooking the city.
The Japanese Garden
Only a few hundred feet from the International Rose Test Garden, but a world away, lies one of the most authentic, Japanese gardens outside of Japan. Situated on a hilltop above the rose gardens, Portland’s Japanese garden offers visitors tranquility, beauty and relaxation through five formal gardening styles including a pond garden, a natural setting garden, a sand and stone garden, a flat garden and traditional tea garden.
The Classical Chinese Garden
Dedicated in 2000, the Classical Chinese Garden is an authentic Suzhou (sister Chinese city)-style garden on a full city block in the heart of Portland‘s Chinatown neighborhood. The garden is designed to slowly reveal its orchids, bamboo and waterfalls as you wind through paths, stroll under archways and look through windows. Around each bend is a carefully constructed, picture-perfect arrangement of flowers, trees, rocks and water. Each vista is framed in beautiful architectural elements.
Option 1 – The Peninsula Park Rose Garden
The Peninsula Park Rose Garden is older than the Internation Rose Test Garden, and in the opinion of many devotees, more beautiful. It is a classic sunken formal garden, planted in 1900 and includes brick walkways, a historic gazebo bandstand, a central fountain and thousands of blooms displayed in symmetrical plantings. The garden shares the park with a playground, sports facilities and the city’s oldest community center. Enjoy ambling through grass-lined paths, dip your toes in the cool fountain waters or take in the view from one of the many benches on the upper walkways where the thick fragrance of roses wafts up from the blossoms below.
Option 2 – Crystal Spring Rhododendron Gardens
What began in 1950 as a rhododendron test garden has blossomed into a dazzling collection of rhododendron and azaleas amidst attractive water features, winding gravel paths and stone masonry. Plantings of rhododendron from around the world burst into color in the spring months, then calm down to provide a tranquil, green habitat for waterfowl throughout the summer and fall seasons.
