The other day I was out with my family running around Portland (Oregon). We were in the area of the Portland Rose Garden and I asked everyone to humor me for a little bit so we could stop and look around. I love to go there as it is such a beautiful garden to visit, especially if you love roses! There are roses upon roses at this International Rose Test Garden that was founded in 1917!
My visit was cut all too short thanks to having one very overtired toddler that did not care for much of anything by the time we reached the garden. My husband graciously attempted to keep the little tyrant happy while I snapped a few pictures.
That is my daughter running down the row of roses.
While on my brief stroll through the garden I noticed that several roses shared one thing in common: their name. They all had the color blue in their name. I thought this was fun so I proceeded to take pictures of all the roses I could find with the word blue in their name. Below are some of them.
This floribunda is named Blueberry Hill. I love that name!
Here is a closeup of the Blueberry Hill rose. Not the greatest pic as the lighting was all wrong but you can still see how pretty this rose is.
This was simply labeled a shrub rose with the name of Midnight Blue. It has got to be one of the deepest purple roses I have ever seen!
A closeup of the Midnight Blue Rose.
This rose, called Wild Blue Yonder, was by far my favorite out of all that I photographed. It was just loaded with roses. I can't remember if it had a nice fragrance or not though.
Wild Blue Yonder Rose
One more closeup of the Wild Blue Yonder.
If you are ever in the Portland, Oregon area I highly recommend you visit the Portland Rose Garden. It is free and you will not regret it. Also a visit to their website will not disappoint. There you can find an interesting section catered to the rose lover. It is full of history and useful information and is worth checking out if you love roses even a little bit.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Fantastic roses Cynthia. Their colors are so brilliant and the foliage looks pretty healthy. Looks like a wonderful place to visit. I bet it smelled heavenly walking among all those beauties.
Hi PGL, it never ceases to amaze me just how well roses do up here considering all the rain we get. You would think with all the rain we would have more problems with powdery mildew and black spot. The roses here are amazing! There is a reason why they call Portland, Oregon the City of Roses! -Cynthia
I have never seen a rose that purple! That is really spectacular. That one that is pink is soft and lacy and looks almost fake in its perfection. The child running down through the garden is beautiful. How like a child to revel freely in the mastery that is nature…
Brenda
Thank you Brenda as that child is my little girl.
I quickly snapped that shot when I turned to see her running through the garden like that. It was perfect as we did not have the garden to ourselves yet she is alone in that picture. -Cynthia
Thanks for posting these, we need to get down to P-town in the next few months and that will definitely be on our itinerary. Hopefully before my daughter reaches that cranky time of day… thanks for the support on her first day of school!
- Karen
Hi Karen, I’m glad I could be of some support as I remember what it was like all too well. Kindergarten is fun because they are still so excited about school and learning. -Cynthia
The roses look so lush and healthy, especially for this time of year! I really like the name of Blueberry Hill as well!
Hi Chey, I was actually surprised to see so many roses still going strong. A lot of them did look tired but as the pictures show some are still really packing a punch! -Cynthia
I remember reading many years ago that hybridizers were trying very hard to create a blue rose! Imagine a rose that was blue! It’s just not right! They must have figure that out;) So now they are giving them blue in their name instead!
Gail
Hi Gail, I don’t know if I would ever care to see a true blue rose! It doesn’t even sound like it would be pretty! I thought it was funny to see so many roses with the word blue in their name when they didn’t even come close to being blue! Like the Blueberry Hill rose for example is much more pink than anything else. That one was pretty I might add.
-Cynthia
We were just in Portland last January but didn’t have time to go to the rose garden. Now I need to bug Hubby about going to visit his family up there so I can stroll through the roses too!
Everytime I see a beautiful rose garden, I really want my own. Those are so nice. Funny about the blue being in all those names. Like Gail, I can’t imagine a true blue rose looking so good.
They are so pretty. They do look very blue and I would love to see a mass planting of them all mixed up. Thanks for sharing. Sorry your baby was fussy.
Hi Anna, My daughter is usually quite the handful so it wasn’t anything too out of the ordinary for her! I love the Rose Garden so I will be back to visit again and maybe she will be in a better mood next time around! -Cynthia
Hello there Cynthia !
You got beautiful shots of these roses ! I have Angel Face which is a lavender sort of blueish ? colour .. and it has wonderful scent .. I find it almost an oxymoron when a “Rose” has no scent .. what on earth were the breeders thinking ! LOL
Great pictures !
Joy
Thank you Joy.
My favorite roses are the one’s that have a nice scent too. It is disappointing to see a pretty rose and then find out it has not scent! That is one thing I love about the Rose Garden, you can see and SMELL the roses all you want! -Cynthia
What a clever idea! And thank you for letting us peek along with you. A friend and I had a conversation about ‘blue roses’. I think I will send this link to her.
Thank you Barbee’! I love going to that garden whenever I can get the chance. Even if it does make my rose wish list grow longer!
-Cynthia