Stop and Smell the Roses

Not all roses are fragrant, but lots of them are.  We took time to smell the roses at Heirloom Roses in St Paul, Oregon.

You'll just have to imagine the fragrance as I take you on a virtual tour.

 This shrub rose was buzzing with friendly bees.↓

That concludes our tour of the Willamette Valley.  DJan said she can't believe how many photos I take, but then, that's what I do.  When my Nikon is with me, I see everything through my camera eye.  For those who made it through the whole tour, thanks, and congratulations!

Now I am off to a 1:00 Sounders match at the stadium, and maybe some roaming around down town.  It's a beautiful day to play.  I will be armed only with my iPhone camera, so look for me on Facebook. :-)

Some Special Garden Centers

We all stayed overnight in Woodburn, Oregon.  Tuesday morning we made our required stop at Al's Garden Center in Woodburn.  Covering six acres, it is a great place to shop and study and enjoy the beauty.

 Along the perimeter fence is this gorgeous hanging garden.

 I would love to work in a place like this so that I could do the end of aisles displays.

 Laurie and Arn have just been in their current house a few years, and she is still building her garden.  She studied all of the perennials. Arn said she set a new record for Al's, one and a half hours.

Eventually we did move on, with quite a few plants in the back of the car.

We were headed west across the valley to St. Paul, and a rose garden there, but first we found this place.

Strawberry season has begun in the valley. These are real berries, red all the way through.  I know because a bought a pint to bring home.

And we sampled a strawberry doughnut.

 The greenhouse was full of color, especially from the hanging baskets.

 The view from the greenhouse.↓

We didn't buy much here, but we sure enjoyed looking.