No fences! Some of Portland’s priciest real estate borders the park. Long before Hoyt Arboretum was founded this area of Portland’s West Hills was the site of Multnomah County’s Poor Farm established in 1868.

Arctostaphylos densiflora – a variety of manzanita.

The International Rose Test garden has over 10,000 plants of more than 550 varieties.

The primary purpose of this garden is to serve as a testing ground for new rose varieties. The City of Portland Gold Medal Awards are issued annually to the best introductions. The first “Gold Medal” rose award was given in 1919.

The Cornus florida – or flowering dogwood tree.

The Flat Garden is typical of urban garden design, but here it contrasts with the park’s folds and contours. Raked white sand represents water and vividly contrasts with lawn, moss, evergreens, and azaleas.

The garden was designed by Professor Takuma Tono and opened to the public in 1967. In a study conducted in 2004 by the Journal of Japanese Gardening, it was ranked second out of 300 public Japanese gardens outside Japan for highest quality.

The Natural Garden has multiple ponds with koi fish, waterfalls, and streams.

From Portland the snowy peaks of Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens are not always visible due to low valleys, hills, trees and cloudy skies. So when we find ourselves somewhere where we can actually see them we gleefully exclaim, “Oh, look! The Mountains are out today!” This photo was taken from the I-205 viewpoint looking across the Willamette River wth Mt. Hood overlooking Oregon City.