Roses in Portland, Oregon

The city of Portland, Oregon, is ideal for growing roses outdoors due to its location within the marine west coast climate region, its warm, dry summers and rainy but mild winters, and its heavy clay soils.

Thousands of rose bushes were planted, eventually lining 200 miles (320 km) of Portland's streets in preparation for the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in 1905.

Today, the Portland Rose Festival takes place each June with a carnival, parades, and navy ships docked along the Tom McCall Waterfront Park to promote the city.

In 1889, lawyer and civic leader Frederick Van Voorhies Holman helped found the Portland Rose Society.

The cultivar gained popularity, and by 1905 Portland had 20 miles (32 km) of rose-bordered streets, with about half-a-million rose bushes planted, attracting visitors to the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition.

City landscape architect Florence Holmes Gerke began designing the International Rose Test Garden and accompanying amphitheatre in 1921.

The nickname grew in popularity after the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, when mayor Harry Lane suggested that the city needed a "festival of roses".

Peninsula Park became the city's first public rose garden in 1909 when it was purchased for $60,000 ($2,034,667 in 2025[10]) with funds raised in a 1908 bond measure.

[11] Designed by Emanuel L. Mische, the 2-acre (0.81 ha) garden contains 8,900 plantings featuring 65 rose varieties.

[4][11] The park remains a popular Portland tourist destination, with more than 9,500 rose bushes representing over 600 varieties.

Coinciding with the festival is the Annual Spring Rose Show, considered to be one of the largest and longest-running in the nation.

[14][17] One day prior to the competition, the public is invited to vote for the People's Choice award recipient.

[38][39] Portland born recording artist Esperanza Spalding has a song called "City of Roses" on her album Radio Music Society.