SUNDAY, SEPT 4 PORTLAND GARDENS
Our guide, Lois Moss, will pick us up at the Portland airport for those who flew in this morning or at our hotel for those who flew in yesterday.

We start our tour with the International Rose Test Garden with over 10,000 rose plants of approximately 600 varieties and we will have a docent-led tour of the rose garden, describing its fascinating history.

Next, we visit the Portland Japanese Garden, considered one of the finest Japanese gardens in the world. The garden is a symphony of rock, water and plants.

We’ll end the day visiting Lan Su Chinese Garden, a walled garden enclosing a full city block and built by artisans from Suzhou, China. It is especially interesting to compare the Chinese garden with the Japanese garden because the styles are very different. 

To avoid rush hour traffic, we will have dinner at a nearby restaurant before returning to our hotel. We will be staying in the same hotel for 4 nights, taking excursions to gardens and more. (B,L,D)

MONDAY, SEPT 5 WILLAMETTE VALLEY

Today we venture into The Willamette Valley, the fabled destination of pioneers who traveled The Oregon Trail in the mid-1800s. The fertile Willamette Valley is home to numerous commercial nurseries, plant hybridizers, greenhouses, blueberry fields, hop growers, hazelnut groves, organic farms, vineyards and more.

We visit Rogerson Clematis Collection and Garden. With over 1,600 individual clematis, the garden contains the most comprehensive collection of clematis within a public garden in North America.

Next is Hughes Water Gardens, a nursery and display garden specializing in plants that grow in and around water, ponds and streams. This nursery and its staff are renowned experts and have created features for gardens around the world.

We take the charming Canby Ferry across the Willamette River to the largest dahlia grower in North America, Swan Island Dahlias. Their fields and display garden will be unbelievable at this time of year. We will have a picnic lunch here.

We then have a leisurely drive through the gorgeous fertile valley, stopping at Terra Nova Nurseries to see their display garden and learn about plant cultivation and hybridizing.

We enter one of Oregon’s wine regions and will notice the landscape changing to vineyards as far as the eye can see. We will visit Durant at Red Ridge Farms, featuring a winery, garden center, and olive oil production facility with spectacular views of the rolling hillsides and vineyards. We will have opportunities to taste a variety of olive oils and wine during our visit.

We arrive back at the hotel in the early evening with plenty of time for an independent dinner and relaxing. (B,L)

TUESDAY, SEPT 6 WILLAMETTE VALLEY

We go south in the Willamette Valley to Oregon’s low-key state capital, Salem. We first visit Deepwood Gardens & Museum, a Victorian historic house situated in five acres of gardens and parkland.

Next is Willamette Heritage Center which includes a fascinating woolen mill and other exceptional historic buildings. We will have a tour of the mill and learn about this important industry.

We will visit Bush Art Center and the Bush House, all

surrounded by lovely gardens. We will have a picnic lunch here.

We then visit Sebright Gardens & Nursery, specializing in hosta, ferns and other shade-loving plants. Their display garden is more than four acres and is a wonderland of flowers, trees and plants.

As we drive north we will visit the small town of Aurora. Known for its antiques shops, there is also the Old Aurora Colony museum and more.

Dinner will be at Filberts Farmhouse Kitchen before making our way back to the hotel. (B,L,D)

WEDNESDAY, SEPT 7 COLUMBIA RIVER

We venture east and to the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area with spectacular views and amazing history. The Gorge was created by ice dams and glacial floods approximately 14,000 years ago. We will visit Vista House at Crown Point, the hilltop gateway to the Gorge, and stop at Multnomah Falls. Lunch will be at the historic Multnomah Falls Lodge.

We continue east through the Gorge on the parts of the Historic Columbia River Highway, stopping occasionally to see some of the waterfalls, tunnels and bridges. At the quaint town of Cascade Locks, we will view Bridge of the Gods, have lunch and see the mighty Columbia River from Thunder Island before heading west, back towards Portland. 

Salmon are an important and protected species in the region; we will visit the fascinating Bonneville Fish Hatchery and learn more about the ecosystems and various types of salmon. 

Next will be Leach Botanical Gardens. The original house and garden were the home of John and Lila Leach who went on botanical expeditions and discovered new plants in the 1930s and 1940s. 

We will stop at the town of Lake Oswego, offering numerous restaurants overlooking the lake, for independent dinner. (B,L)

SUNDAY, SEPT 8 DEPARTURE

Once we know participants’ flight schedules, we will fill in today’s activities. Our guide will take us to the Portland airport when it is time to head home or wherever your next adventure takes you. (B)

Linda Dietrick is a retired professor of German Studies, a past editor of The Prairie Garden, and a trained Master Gardener. Although she grew up in the Philadelphia area as the daughter of a landscape designer, she has lived and gardened in Winnipeg since 1988. In recent years, she and her husband Harold have enjoyed three of Sara Williams’ excellent garden tours. Linda is delighted to have the opportunity to help continue what Sara started. 

Lois Moss is active in The Hardy Plant Society of Oregon, a horticultural organization with over 3,000 members. Her previous careers included being a CPA with an international accounting firm and an entrepreneur who co-founded a chain of bicycle stores. She has led tours to Europe and USA destinations and she is working on Japan but her primary focus is the Pacific Northwest. For an extensive presentation by Lois about gardens in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, watch this video on YouTube.