A Haven for Flowers in Times of War

On the Road 1 Minute

Oregon’s International Rose Test Garden sits well above the City of Portland at Washington Park. It is home to more than 10,000 rose bushes from about 650 different types of plants.

Its roots date to World War I. An international movement began at that time to preserve ancient rose plant stocks threatened by the mechanized carnage enveloping Europe.

It turns out Portland has an ideal climate for roses. And the idea of a haven for flowers threatened by war grew into a much larger movement.

Over time, Portland’s garden became a recognized repository and test garden for rose varieties developed around the world. Yesterday, Jim and I enjoyed walking through it before we moved on to the nearby Japanese Gardens as we toured the city.

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Published by Robert Craig Waters

Robert Craig Waters is a Florida writer. After leaving journalism in the early 1980s, he worked as an attorney, communications director, and public spokesman for the Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee for 35 years. He grew up on a family farm in Beulah, Florida, not far from the Alabama border, before attending Brown University in the 1970s. His mother's family traces its roots to Weaverville, North Carolina. His father's family is from the small village of Burnt Corn, Alabama, where Mr. Waters spent part of his childhood.

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