Washington Park - International Rose Test Garden

Rose Garden
International Rose Test Garden
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More than 10,000 individual rose bushes bloom in the International Rose Test Garden (IRTG) from late May through October, representing over 610 different rose varieties. The majority of roses in the Garden are commercially available. About 10 to 20 varieties are replaced each year with some of the best new roses released onto the market. Roses bloom from late May to October depending on the weather. 

The primary purpose of the Garden is to serve as a testing ground for new rose varieties. In the beginning, while World War I was raging, hybridists sent roses from around the world to Portland’s garden for testing.

Winter Pruning

The roses will be pruned down to waist height and put to bed for the winter November 1st and 2nd.  Fall pruning will help to avoid damage during fall and winter storms, it also offers an excellent dormant season aesthetic. Though there will be few flowers, the garden is still worth a visit. 

If interested to volunteer in the future, please call 503-823-5121

Tips For a Safe Park Visit

Car prowls occur throughout the City of Portland including within Washington Park. Please see Tips For a Safe Park visit to learn more how you can help reduce the chance of your vehicle becoming a target.

Remove valuables from your vehicle: 

  • Remove all valuables, bags, or items that could be perceived as valuable when leaving your vehicle. Store them in the trunk if you cannot take them with you.
  • Close vehicle windows and lock vehicle doors every time.
  • Keep unused chargers and accessories in your glove box.
  • Be observant when you exit or enter your parked vehicle, stop and take a look around the area. Report any suspicious activity to park rangers or the police.

Getting Here

Plan your visit with parking, transit, and shuttle information from Explore Washington Park.

Pay to Park is in effect in Washington Park. When parking, use the Parking Kitty appor website.

Brochures with Maps

Tour Groups

Guided tours for groups of are available seasonally starting in the spring, for a nominal fee per person. Contact ParksCommercialUse@portlandoregon.gov to make arrangements. Please allow four weeks for planning. Memorial Day through Labor day individuals, families and small groups can take a daily tour at 1 pm which meets at the Rose Garden Store. Visit the Rose Garden Store website.

Volunteering

Volunteer opportunities are available in both garden and non-garden work. Garden tasks include deadheading, planting, pruning, sign painting, and garden improvement projects. Non-garden tasks include strategic planning, fundraising, updating educational materials, leading garden tours, maintaining inventory records, and coordinating volunteer efforts. Contact the Rose Garden at 503-823-3636 or Volunteer Services at 503-823-5121.

Portland Rose Society

Founded in 1889, the Portland Rose Society is a nonprofit organization offering educational programs on rose culture and encouraging the use of roses in the landscape. For information on Rose Society programs or membership, write or call Portland Rose Society, PO Box 515, Portland, 97207, voice mail: 503-777-4311.


Test Garden Status

The American Garden Rose Selections (AGRS) has replaced All American Rose Selections (AARS). 2013 was our inaugural season. AGRS has eleven test sites nationally:

  1. Portland, Oregon (Washington Park International Rose Test Garden)
  2. Orangeburg, South Carolina
  3. San Jose, California
  4. Farmer’s Branch, Texas
  5. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
  6. Kennewick, Washington
  7. Westfield, Massachusetts
  8. Columbus, Ohio
  9. Glencoe, Illinois
  10. Ames, Iowa
  11. Lexington, Kentucky

Other independent rose testing ongoing at IRTG:

  • Five rose breeders entered the 2013 trials with seven varieties of roses.
  • Rose trials run for two years.
  • During the testing period, all roses are only identified by code numbers.
  • Each site has two judges making seven evaluations per growing season.
  • Eleven attributes are judged (disease resistance, vigor, foliage proportion and attractiveness, plant habit, flowering effect/bloom abundance, rebloom habit, bloom form/attractiveness, aging quality of blooms, fragrance, hardiness, general impression).
  • No fungicide spraying occurs; roses receive only basic maintenance.
  • Weeks and Star Rose Grower’s trials
  • David Austin Roses (near tennis courts); one of five test gardens nationally
  • Miniature Roses (in the test garden); one of eleven test gardens nationally. No fungicide spraying.

ADA Improvements

The Washington Park International Rose Test Garden celebrated its Centennial anniversary in 2017. With funding from the Parks Replacement Bond, this project removed ADA accessibility barriers from the main promenade within the Rose Garden and improved the connection to the parking lot, so that all Portland residents and visitors can equally enjoy this space for the next 100 years. Read more about these improvements on our Parks Replacement Bond page. 

Accessible parking is located on SW Rose Garden Way and SW Kingston Ave. Visitors may park in these spaces and follow signs to the ramp access into the garden. Note that parking is very limited in Washington Park on sunny weekends and most days during the summer months. The Washington Park free shuttle is fully accessible and connects to the Washington Park TriMet MAX Station and various parking areas in Washington Park. Learn more at Explore Washington Park.

Year acquired
1917
Size in acres
6.90
History

Size in acres includes amphitheater.

Portland has long had a love affair with roses. In 1888, Georgiana Burton Pittock, wife of publisher Henry Pittock, invited her friends and neighbors to exhibit their roses in a tent set up in her garden; thus the Portland Rose Society was established.

Madame Caroline Testout was a late 19th-century French dressmaker from Grenoble, the proprietor of fashionable salons in London and Paris. She regularly purchased silks from Lyon, which was an important center for rose breeding. The nurseryman Joseph Pernet-Ducher was called 'The Wizard of Lyon' due to his success in developing hybrid tea roses. Madame Testout was an astute businesswoman and understood the value of good publicity. She asked Perner-Ducher to name one of his new roses after her. He agreed but considered her choice of seedling to be mediocre. The 'Madame Caroline Testout' rose made its debut at the salon's 1890 spring fashion show. It was not strong on scent, but became an immediate success with Madame Testout's well-to-do customers as well as the gardening public for its abundant silky, rose-pink flowers. The new variety's popularity spread to America, and in Portland, nearly half a million bushes of 'Caroline Testout' were planted along the sidewalks. By 1905 Portland had 200 miles of rose-bordered streets which helped attract visitors to the Lewis and Clark Centennial celebration. Portland came to be known as the 'City of Roses'.

In 1915 Jesse A. Currey, rose hobbyist and Sunday editor of the Oregon Journal, convinced city officials to institute a rose test garden to serve as a safe haven during World War I for hybrid roses grown in Europe. Rose lovers feared that these unique plants would be destroyed in the bombings. The Park Bureau approved the idea in 1917 and by early 1918, hybridists from England began to send roses. In 1921 Florence Holmes Gerke, the landscape architect for the city of Portland was charged with designing the International Rose Test Garden and the amphitheater. The garden was dedicated in June 1924. Currey was appointed as the garden's first rose curator and served in that capacity until his death in 1927.

Part of the original design, the Royal Rosarian Garden is home to the namesake roses of all past Prime Ministers of the Royal Rosarians, a civic group that serves as the official greeters and goodwill ambassadors for the City of Portland. Founded in 1912, the Order of Royal Rosarians modeled their mythical 'Realm of Rosaria' after the government of England’s King Henry VII, whose rise to the throne in 1485 ended the War of the Roses. Members are 'knighted' into the organization under their chosen variety of rose, which is then their 'namesake' rose. The garden also features a stone bench honoring Jesse Currey.

In 1945, the Shakespeare Garden, located at Crystal Springs Lake in southeast Portland, was moved to Washington Park to allow for the expansion of Eastmoreland Golf Course. Designed by Glenn Stanton and Florence Gerke, it was originally intended to include only herbs, trees, and flowers mentioned in William Shakespeare's plays. The garden continues to honor the Bard with roses named after characters in his plays. The focal point of the garden is the Shakespeare Memorial, a brick wall with a plaque featuring Shakespeare’s image and his quote, "Of all flowers methinks a rose is best." Donated by the LaBarre Shakespeare Club, it was dedicated on April 23, 1946 - the 382nd anniversary of Shakespeare's birth. In 1957 the club added a sundial to the garden.

In 1967, rose curator Rudolph Kalmbach wanted to establish a formal garden featuring Gold Award roses. (In 1919 the City of Portland issued its first annual Gold Award for the best new rose variety.) With the support of the Portland Rose Society, Wallace Kay Huntington was selected to design the garden which was dedicated in June 1970. In 1991, the Portland Rose Society donated the pavilion which overlooks these award-winning roses.

Established in 1975, the Miniature Rose Garden is one of only six testing grounds for the American Rose Society (ARS) miniature rose test program. The national annual winners from both ARS and AARS associations are displayed in the middle of the garden along the center aisle.

Set in a sunken section on the upper level of the garden, the Frank Beach Memorial Fountain was dedicated in June 1975. The stainless steel sculpture, titled Water Sculpture, was designed and built by Oregon artist Lee Kelly. The fountain was a gift from the Beach family to honor their father, Frank Edwin Beach (1853-1934), the man who is said to have christened Portland the 'City of Roses' and who first proposed the annual Rose Festival.

Awards
The award called Portland’s Best Rose was established in 1996. Rose experts from around the world attend a one-day judging in June and select the best rose that day from thousands of submissions. Portland remains the only North American city to issue such an award. In 2006, the International Rose Test Garden received The Garden of Excellence Award from the World Federation of Rose Societies.

In 2017, the Garden’s Centennial anniversary, a construction project funded by the 2014 Parks Replacement Bond removed ADA accessibility barriers from the main promenade within the Rose Garden and improved connections to the parking lot.

Accessibility Notes

Special Note on Parking
Parking for cars is very limited in Washington Park, especially during warm, sunny weekends. About 40% of all visitors skip the parking and arrive by rideshare, walking, biking or using TriMet transit service. Once you’re in the park, use the free seasonal shuttle to explore the park.

Park Location or Entrance

400 SW Kingston Avenue
Portland, OR 97210

Located within

Open hours

5:00 am - 10:00 pm

Closed from 5:00 am - 10:00 am every other Wednesday May - August See below schedule

Rose Garden Store
rosefestival.org/buy/rose-garden-store

Explore Washington Park Maps and Information
explorewashingtonpark.org

Park amenities/activities

Gift Shop
Pay to Park
Statue or Public Art
Tours (Guided)
Visitor Attraction
Vista Point
Paths (Paved)
Fountain

Park policy

  • All dogs must be leashed in this park.

Neighborhood

City section

Downtown