A Pocket Full of Posies - More Must See Gardens in Oregon
© Sue Barton
A Pocket Full of Posies - More Must See Gardens in Oregon
In my earlier article, Ring Around the Rosey, I pointed out the marvelouse rose gardens in Oregon. This tour highlights the other gardens worth visiting. In real-time, you would need a couple of weeks to drive from point to point and have time to really enjoy each garden. In addition, their blossoms are in season at different points of the year. This cyber-tour will take considerably less time, and unfortunately as was the case with the rose garden tour, you can't enjoy the varied fragrences. Use just a little imagination and you will be right there.
Berry Botanic Gardens
(by appointment only)
11505 SW Summerville Ave.
Portland, OR 97219
503-636-4112
The Berry Botanical Garden is named for its founder Rae Selling Berry, who actually deserves an article all her own. She began her first garden in 1908 when she sent off sums of money to garden exploration teams going to Africa and Asia. She was a scandalous sort of woman, coming from a high-society family, yet wearing pants and hiking regularly into alpine areas of the Western United States and Canada to capture specimens of primulas. She did all this while dealing with the effects of a genetic disease which robbed her of her hearing at a young age.
This garden was deeded to the Berry Botanical Society in 1978. Because of its residential location, even though it is open to the public and the fact that you can make reservations nearly up to the time you want to visit, you must have an appointment.
There are self guided tours available amd while there you will most likely see the students continuing her research. This description from the Garden's website serves as a good idea of what you'll see:
Rae Berry was known to go hiking up into her spry seventies and usually was far ahead of the rest of her hiking party.
In my earlier article, Ring Around the Rosey, I pointed out the marvelouse rose gardens in Oregon. This tour highlights the other gardens worth visiting. In real-time, you would need a couple of weeks to drive from point to point and have time to really enjoy each garden. In addition, their blossoms are in season at different points of the year. This cyber-tour will take considerably less time, and unfortunately as was the case with the rose garden tour, you can't enjoy the varied fragrences. Use just a little imagination and you will be right there.
Berry Botanic Gardens
(by appointment only)
11505 SW Summerville Ave.
Portland, OR 97219
503-636-4112
The Berry Botanical Garden is named for its founder Rae Selling Berry, who actually deserves an article all her own. She began her first garden in 1908 when she sent off sums of money to garden exploration teams going to Africa and Asia. She was a scandalous sort of woman, coming from a high-society family, yet wearing pants and hiking regularly into alpine areas of the Western United States and Canada to capture specimens of primulas. She did all this while dealing with the effects of a genetic disease which robbed her of her hearing at a young age.
This garden was deeded to the Berry Botanical Society in 1978. Because of its residential location, even though it is open to the public and the fact that you can make reservations nearly up to the time you want to visit, you must have an appointment.
There are self guided tours available amd while there you will most likely see the students continuing her research. This description from the Garden's website serves as a good idea of what you'll see:
"Rae Selling Berry liked exceptional plants. The harder a plant was to grow, the more devoted she was to its cultivation. For her principal collections --- rhododendrons, primulas, and alpines --- she met horticultural requirements with uncanny accuracy. Her ability to succeed when others failed added to her legend of "compleat plantswoman," a title attributed to someone as involved and skilled in a pursuit as was "The Compleat Angler" of Izaac Walton."
Rae Berry was known to go hiking up into her spry seventies and usually was far ahead of the rest of her hiking party.
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