Oregon Gardens

For twenty-five years I drove every summer up to Seattle for a bicycle vacation. And every year I would pass the road signs to Oregon Gardens. This year I visited them. They are 20 miles off the interstate in the small town of Silverton. You travel on scenic country roads to get there.

The Oregon Gardens is similar to Butchart Gardens in Victoria Canada. The gardens have 20 specialty gardens.

  • The Amazing Water Garden beautifully incorporates a circular water garden with an ornate bridge, criss-crossing paths and a cascading waterfall. This area combines wildlife habitat and treated wastewater recycling with the creation of a botanical haven.
  • The Axis Garden is designed to be a pattern of turf and ornamental plantings that features seasonal color displays.
  • Bosque (bohs-kay’) – Bosque is a Spanish word meaning grove. The Bosque is a large central plaza featuring four brick reflecting ponds and 40 planter boxes, each planted with a single Pacific Sunset Maple. The colorful foliage of the maple trees reflect in the dark surface of the ponds.
  • The Conifer Garden boasts one of the largest collections of dwarf and miniature conifers in the United States.
  • The Lewis and Clark Garden is a living museum of the many botanical finds Meriwether Lewis and William Clark documented on their Corps of Discovery’s journey more than 200 years ago
  • The Medicinal Garden displays many different varieties of medicinal plant species that are commonly grown here in our climate. Each plant has, or was believed to have, medicinal properties when properly prepared.
  • The Northwest Garden’s landscape design showcases plants and trees that thrive in our region. Visitors experience meandering pathways through lush garden beds filled with color, texture, form and movement. Highlights include a large pergola covered in vines and an area created in partnership with Monrovia nursery.

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