Sunday E-dition: A trip to Portland to see the roses bloom
By Dave Stoneberg
PORTLAND, Ore. — Some 10,000 individual rose bushes representing more than 610 different rose varieties bloom from late May through October at the Washington Park International Rose Test Garden in Portland, Oregon.
The beauty of this 6.9-acre site is incredible. It is easy to be overwhelmed — there are so many roses in different hues of reds, oranges, whites, yellows and even lavender. Yet on a weekday visit in mid-July the pathways were not crowded, and the gardens on different levels are large enough that there’s plenty of time to — guess what! — stop and smell the roses.
The primary purpose of the garden is to serve as a testing ground for new rose varieties. It is one of 11 such rose test sites in the United States. The test garden has a long history, with Portland’s love affair with roses dating back to the late 19th century, when it was named the “City of Roses.”
According to Portland.gov, the effort to establish a rose test garden was started in 1915 by Jesse A. Currey, who was a rose hobbyist and Sunday editor of the Oregon Journal. Rose-lovers feared that hybrid roses grown in Europe would be destroyed in the bombings during World War I and sought a safe haven for these unique plants. In 2006 the International Rose Test Garden received “The Garden of Excellence Award” from the World Federation of Rose Societies.
For more information, see test garden.
Last week
Now back to the Napa Valley. Is it the middle of August already? I can’t quite believe it. Last week Tim Carl wrote about media fracking, a seismic shift in the media landscape both locally and globally; he interviewed Rob Thompson, a Napa Valley water dowsers who said he’s finally getting a rest because of last winter’s rains; and he gave us a beautiful photo essay on the days not too long ago of the COVID-19 lockdown in Napa Valley. Also last week writer Evy Warshawski updated us on the Napa Quake Mosaic, which will be done in 2024; journalist Paul Franson tasted a variety of rosé wines from around the world; and Lisa Adams Walter gave us a delightful review of Deuces Market, a European-style market in Napa co-owned by Mike Casey and Brent Pennington. We also received the weekly report from the UC Master Gardeners of Napa County. That group knows so much about gardening and is thrilled to share their knowledge.
Next week
Coming up, Paul Franson writes about an effort to expand next winter’s Mustard Celebration, Sasha Paulsen reports on the recent writers’ conference held at Napa Valley College and Tim Carl will give readers a view behind the camera at St. Helena’s famed Cameo Cinema. Speaking of that charming theater, it was the site on a recent Monday of a forum discussing the future of news in St. Helena. The moderator was Dana Cronin, a St. Helena native and journalist who has worked in Washington, D.C., and recently moved back to the Bay Area. I covered that meeting, and you’ll read about it this week in Napa Valley Features. Also, I had a wonderful interview with sisters Angelina and Riana Mondavi, members of the fourth generation of the family that has owned the Charles Krug Winery for the past 80 years.
Dave Stoneberg is a journalist who worked for the St. Helena Star from 2006 to 2014.