In one word, this place is AMAZING!!!! I could’ve spent several DAYS here exploring. Unfortunately, our time was limited. If I lived near the garden, I would be there all the time. There are at least 22 garden areas. Everything from wetlands and water gardens, to a children’s garden, conifer garden, green roof garden, pet-friendly garden, northwest garden, sensory garden, home demonstration garden, and more. It’s so huge that they offer a tram ride to get an overview of the gardens. I have tons of pictures from this garden and it was difficult to narrow it down. But here’s some highlights.
 |
| The beauty of the Oregon Garden |
We didn’t get to see EVERYTHING, but from what I saw some of my favorites were the Children’s Garden and Conifer Garden. I’ve been trying to learn more about shrubs and conifers, so that’s why that garden was so interesting to me.
 |
| Part of the Conifer Garden. |
 |
| The Hobbit Hole in the Children’s Garden. |
 |
| A couple of pot people sitting under and arbor in the Children’s Garden. |
 |
| A unique “bathroom” in the Children’s Garden. |
They have great education opportunities and events at the Oregon Garden. (Man, I wished I lived nearby!) They are also very much into sustainable gardening and being green. One fascinating fact: They partnered with the City of Silverton to reuse the area’s treated water for irrigating their wetlands. According to their website, “As much as 700,000 gallons of water daily enter the top of the wetlands from the City of Silverton’s treatment facility. As the water moves through more than 17 acres of ponds, the plants both lower the temperature and remove excess nutrients (excellent fertilizer!). Years of monthly water quality testing of these ponds have shown a decrease in excess nitrate and phosphorous concentrations from where the water enters the garden to where it gets released. When the water re-enters the watershed at Brush Creek, the nutrient concentrations are almost non-detectable — and thereby safe for our fish friends.” SO COOL!
 |
| The Water Garden complete with a Loch Ness Monster topiary. |
 |
| Looking from the Bosque Garden towards the Rose Petal Fountain. |
If you DID want to spend days here, or at least stay in the area, they have the Oregon Garden Resort as part of the garden. We didn’t stay there because it wasn’t convenient to other things we were doing on this trip, but I checked out the prices and it’s reasonable. Also on the property is The Gordon House, a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1957 and moved to the garden in 2002. It’s open to the public by appointment. We didn’t get a chance to see it.
 |
| The Green Roof Garden. |
To learn more, check out: http://www.oregongarden.org/
 |
| Dramatic Colors in the Oregon Garden. |
No comments:
Post a Comment