Exploring flower festivals, flower farms, and gardens is one of my favorite things about spring and summer in Oregon. You can walk through a field of sunflowers at sunset, picnic among acres of dahlia flowers the size of soccer balls, and look out over tulip fields that stretch as far as you can see.
Six months of the year, you’ll find one flower or another is in peak season. It’s fun to spot them coming into bloom in gardens around town, but there are whole flower farms and gardens that showcase each one. Today’s post is a one-stop shop for exploring 10 of the top flower farms and gardens in Oregon that showcase a single flower type. I’ll share when and where to go so you’ll catch each at its best.
Oregon Bloom Calendar by Flower Type
Timing is everything when it comes to flower tourism, so I’ve put together the bloom calendar below as a quick reference. Actual peak bloom varies from year to year based on the weather, so I’d recommend checking the website for each farm or garden just before the typical peak bloom. Many will post bloom updates on a rolling basis.
Many of the flower farms and gardens are free, but some of them charge an entry fee. Entry fees are typically around $5, except in the case of the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival, which is pricey ($20 per person in 2022). I’ve included a general indicator of cost in the right-hand column below.
These Oregon flower farms and gardens are all fabulous, but the experience is very different from one to the next. Some have whole flower festivals complete with food, music, and crowds. Others are mostly deserted, peaceful gardens. Below, I’ll dive into the experience at each flower farm and garden so you can plan your visit.
#1. Cherry Blossoms
-
Mid March – Mid April
-
Reed College or downtown Portland waterfront
The cherry blossoms are among the first flowers to emerge in Portland, heralding the coming spring. Their bloom window varies from year to year depending on the weather, but the peak bloom typically starts in mid-March.
Since the bloom window is early, the weather can still be rainy and windy. For the best viewing, time your visit for a sunny day. Cherry trees, with their vibrant pink flower clusters, are also beautiful against a stormy sky.
In 2022, due to a cold spring, the cherry blossoms peaked on the late side (end of March). There are a lot of places to see cherry blossoms in Oregon, but in Portland our favorite spots are the downtown Portland waterfront (Tom McCall Park) and Reed College in SE Portland.
In 2022, we visited both on back-to-back weekends (March 20th and March 27th), and the cherry trees were in full bloom. For specifics on where to find the cherry blossoms in downtown Portland and Reed College, see our cherry blossoms blog post.
Local blog Embrace Someplace made a great tracker in 2020 and 2021, showing weekly photos of the downtown Portland cherry blossoms. For a window into the cherry blossoms progressing through the early, peak, and late season, check out the cherry blossom tracker.
#2. Tulips
-
April
Tulips bloom in early spring, when the weather oscillates between sun and rain, so visiting the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm can be very muddy. Yet rain or shine, it remains a beloved annual ritual for many in the Willamette Valley. The farm hosts an annual festival, complete with food trucks and antique tractor displays. It’s a fun event for the whole family.
Last year we went on a very rainy, muddy April day. We expected there might be a low turnout. Not so—the parking lot was packed, and a crowd of festivalgoers clad in raincoats and umbrellas was happily wandering among the extensive tulip fields. Very Pacific Northwest!
This is the most expensive of the flower farms and gardens in our list ($20/person in 2022), but I’d still recommend it if it’s in your budget. The fields of vibrant tulips are a dramatic and very welcome intro to spring.
To help time your visit, the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm provides rolling bloom updates on their Field Report page. A curveball is that they require purchasing tickets online, and they do sometimes sell out, so it’s best not to delay getting tickets too long.
For more tips on visiting the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival, check out our tulip festival post.
#3. Rhododendrons
-
April – May
Right next to Reed College in southeast Portland is an extensive garden of rhododendrons and azaleas in a lush lakeside setting. Paths wander among the flowers, and bridges over the waterways connect different garden sections. Admission to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden is $5/person as of 2022. On Mondays, it’s free! We’ve found it can get pretty crowded on weekends in the peak season, so visiting during the week is likely best if your schedule is flexible.
The peak rhododendron season in May coincides with duckling season, so you’re likely to see ducklings swimming in the ponds. Explore the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden further in our blog post.
#4. Irises
At Schreiner’s Iris Gardens near Salem, there’s a curated display garden that features irises, but also includes displays of lupines and some of the largest columbine flowers I’ve ever seen. Seating is interspersed throughout the garden, and it’s a lovely place to settle in with a book or have a family picnic.
Visitors can also check out the adjacent iris fields. The crowds stick to the display gardens because the iris fields often peak later, but I’d recommend checking out both. Tickets to visit the gardens were $5/person in 2022.
Click here for our blog post on Schreiner’s Iris Gardens for more details.
#5. Lilacs
-
May – June
The Duniway Lilac Garden is the smallest and most peaceful of the gardens and flower farms in our list. If you’re looking for tranquility as you appreciate the flowers, this is the garden to choose.
It’s a free public park in Portland with a collection of beautiful lilacs. The garden is small, so bring a picnic or pair it with a visit to the nearby International Rose Test Garden. We paired our visit to the lilac garden with a hike at Marquam Nature Park, which is just down the road.
#6. Peonies
-
May – June
We haven’t been to the Adelman Peony Gardens in Salem yet, but they’re on our list for the upcoming spring! The Adelman Peony Gardens have both display gardens and 25 acres of peony fields, both of which are open to the public during the bloom season (primarily in May and June).
2022 open house dates were April 30 – June 19, and the garden website notes that the peak bloom is typically in late May. Check the website for updated dates in the year you visit.
Food isn’t sold on site, but visitors are allowed to bring food in and picnic in the gardens.
#7. Roses
-
Late May – September
The International Rose Test Garden in Portland is one of the top destinations in the city for visitors. It’s nearly seven acres and has over 10,000 rose bushes! It’s called a “test garden” because new rose varieties are tested out in the garden.
What are they testing? Per the Portland City Parks, the tests look at both practical and aesthetic factors, ranging from disease resistance to hardiness to fragrance and bloom abundance.
There isn’t a fee to visit the rose garden, but there are parking fees in effect in Washington Park, where the garden is located. The park has an extensive network of trails and other attractions, so it’s easy to spend a whole afternoon in the area.
#8. Lavender
This lavender farm in the Hood River valley is a delightfully peaceful place for a picnic. Striking views of Mount Adams are visible from the farm. Mount Hood looks so enormous from the road on the way to the farm that it seems the world has somehow been magnified. For those who would like to bring flowers home, there’s You-Pick lavender on site as well as a variety of lavender products in the store.
On July weekends, the annual Lavender Daze Festival takes place, bringing craft and food vendors to the farm. I had been picturing food carts for some reason, but when we visited, the on-site food options were limited to snack trays or kettle corn. We enjoyed a tray of vegetables with hummus and chips & salsa, but next time we would also take more food from home so we could have a full meal. Visitors are welcome to take outside food, and it’s a great place for a picnic.
There’s no fee to visit Hood River Lavender Farms. Check out our blog post on Hood River Lavender Farms for more detail.
#9. Dahlias
-
August – September
The largest dahlia farm in the country is just 35 minutes’ drive south of Portland. In August and September, Swan Island Dahlias opens their dahlia fields to the public for a free festival of flowers. On the weekends, there’s often live music and other special events. Food carts offer tasty lunches, and families picnic next to the flower fields. Visitors can buy cut flowers and order tubers to grow at home.
We bought dahlia tubers from Swan Island Dahlias to try our hand at growing them in our garden. It’s definitely not as easy as it looks at the dahlia fields, but it’s always inspiring to go back and see the huge fields of soccer ball-sized flowers in myriad shapes and colors.
Click here for our blog post on the Swan Island Dahlia Festival.
#10. Sunflowers
-
August and September (limited dates)
Sunflowers bloom relatively late, but they’re among the best for photography. Sunflower flower heads all face east, so the sun setting behind a field of enormous flowers creates a dramatic scene. With a flower season in the peak of summer, you’re likely to find clear skies and enough evening light for an after-work, pre-sunset stroll among the sunflowers.
West Union Gardens in Hillsboro opens its sunflower field to visitors during the peak bloom. The sunflower bloom season is generally August-September. The peak bloom window is short (1-2 weeks), so keep an eye on the West Union Gardens website for bloom updates. When we visited the gardens in 2022, one sunflower field peaked in early August, and the second field was expected to peak in early September. The garden website was updated daily with condition reports, which was really helpful for timing our visit.
Visiting the sunflower field requires tickets, which in 2022 were $5 per person and could be purchased online. West Union Gardens only releases tickets for the period when the peak sunflower bloom is expected, which varies from year to year and may not be posted long in advance. If your schedule is relatively flexible, this is actually ideal, because you don’t need to guess when to go.
For more on the sunflower fields, check out our sunflower blog post.
Wildflowers
Today’s post is focused on cultivated flower fields and gardens, but the Pacific Northwest also includes a magnificent world of wildflowers. Wildflowers deserve an article of their own, but here are a few key tips:
For the best wildflower viewing, track the wildflower hotspots on the Northwest Wildflower Bloom Map. When a circle on the map is green, the wildflowers are likely in peak bloom. Many of these wildflower destinations are best experienced through hikes. Here are a few highlights to get you started. Click the links to view our blog posts to explore these wildflower hotspots.
-
Camas lilies at Lacamas Park
-
Trilliums at Tryon Creek State Natural Area
-
Balsamroot meadows at Dog Mountain and Coyote Wall
-
Alpine wildflowers at Paradise Park, Mt Hood
Other Adventures in the Pacific Northwest
Thanks for joining us at the flower farms and gardens in Oregon! For more adventure ideas in the Pacific Northwest, check out our PNW Trip Planner. You can find adventures near you and filter by season and difficulty level. There are weird and wonderful things to explore any time of year. The trip planner links to blog posts to help you plan your next adventure.
Happy exploring!
Leave a Reply