Roses, Pt. I
July 22nd, 2010
Spent the afternoon today with Madeline, we visited Portland’s famous International Rose Test Garden, which was founded in 1917. It also served as a safe place for hybrid European roses during World War I, because people were afraid that their rose varieties would be completely destroyed. The rose garden is quite big and has lots of cool sections, like the ultra super mini rose garden zone, the Portland Rose Festival Queen walk of fame (featuring signatures from all of the past queens!) (not official names of garden sections), and, well, I can’t remember what the other ones were but we made a lot of jokes about it. Also saw some total loser hydrangeas acting like total posers on the garden’s edge! Oh, I also want to mention that this beautiful dress was a gift from Amelia, it had a matching jacket as well that Amelia owns. She’s such a pro at outfit documentation, there must be a photo of it somewhere!
Um, I am calling bullshit on the very first Rose Festival Queen. Her name was really FLORA? Rigged! Edited to add: Ok, I looked it up and the first queen was actually named Carrie Lee Chamberlain, the governor’s daughter, and listen to this!! : “From 1908 to 1913, the festival’s ruler was a king – Rex Oregonus — a local figure selected by committee who kept his identity hidden beneath a mask until he was ‘unveiled’ at the annual ball.” Sounds like the old school Rose Festival was way cooler than the one we have now!
We smelled so many roses and judged them on their rosiness. You really gotta wonder if smelling that many roses in a day does something to your brain chemistry. Probably, it makes you want to eat noodles, which we did later at Saucebox.
Nothing like a giant rose to make you feel small! Small, but impressed. Nice work, rose. I wish I had taken more photos of the rose variety names, I told Madeline that I really like the ones that sound like 80′s lipstick shades. We overheard a guy saying that you should add “in bed” to the end of all the names, which I scoffed at for a second cause I didn’t think it would apply to rose names, but the trick still worked. In my opinion, the worst one was “Pink Promise” (haha, sorry). Thanks to Madeline for snapping some photos of me in rose land!
Entry Filed under: portland
25 Comments
Add your own1. Catherine | July 22nd, 2010 at 10:26 pm
The dress so perfectly mimics the roses. Beautiful pictures.
The Girl in the Paper Dress
2. genevieve | July 22nd, 2010 at 11:04 pm
i second that, your dress goes perfectly!
i just thrifted a navy lace dress, and now i think i have to take it out for an outfit post
3. Rebecca | July 23rd, 2010 at 2:29 am
What a lovely dress, and a lovely place. I would love to spend a whole day in a rose garden.
4. stina | July 23rd, 2010 at 3:06 am
you visit such interesting events & places! & your dress is prettyyyyy
5. Casey | July 23rd, 2010 at 4:49 am
I adore roses–it must be so fun to attend something like this! Love you dress too; the color is perfect.
♥ Casey
blog | elegantmusings.com
6. Sally Jane | July 23rd, 2010 at 5:22 am
I love how your dress completely matches the roses!
7. dressup scientist | July 23rd, 2010 at 7:08 am
Like everyone has pointed out, you wore the perfect dress for the occasion!! I am still a big fan of red roses… something about that dark red is romantic and dark at the same time.
8. Lauren | July 23rd, 2010 at 7:29 am
Sounds like you had a fantastic day. I need to find a rose garden near me to read the names
9. Liz | July 23rd, 2010 at 7:58 am
Most of my family live in Portland and seeing these pictures makes me miss that city so much. I used to go to the rose gardens with my grandmother every time I visited. Such good memories! I’m looking forward to Roses, Pt. 2!
P.S. That dress is gorgeous!
10. Mousevox Vintage | July 23rd, 2010 at 9:29 am
How lovely! There’s an 80% chance that I’ll be in Portland mid August. I’m glad you have a category in your blog dedicated to your lovely city so that I can peruse it and discover a few new places to explore!
11. Diana | July 23rd, 2010 at 11:37 am
Wow! you look fantastic you really do!! And I love roses I really do they are the epitome of natures girly side hahaha!! great post♥
12. Clare | July 23rd, 2010 at 11:58 am
These are really gorgeous pictures! I love that amazing dress.
13. Andrea | July 23rd, 2010 at 3:16 pm
The roses all look soo beautiful, and that dress is just perfect for the occasion!
14. terra | July 23rd, 2010 at 8:41 pm
ahh what a pretty place to be! i love your lipstick shade and the lovely dress too :-p
15. Bekväm | July 23rd, 2010 at 8:50 pm
Sooo…Pretty! I love roses, and your dress is fantastic!
16. Kimberellie | July 23rd, 2010 at 10:14 pm
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. The dress the roses the you~!
17. Sarah | July 25th, 2010 at 10:48 am
What a beautiful garden! I wish we had summer gardens like that here…roses don’t seem to like our infernal heat in the south very well. That dress is so unique and lovely.
18. Lucy | July 25th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
That dress is stunning, the details are so pretty!
19. Lexie | July 26th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
I loooove your lipstick! You wear it so well. I feel like I say that everytime, but I just have to say it again!
20. Victoria / Justice Pirate | July 26th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
what warmth everywhere!!
21. Nancy Cook | July 27th, 2010 at 11:33 am
That dress is a dream and I just love roses. I hope to add more and more to my garden each year. I have two types so far.
22. lauren | July 27th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
anja. anja anja anja, that dress is so incredible and looks incredible on you. wow. this post is so well done. but that’s no surprise!
23. Jessica | July 29th, 2010 at 7:36 am
These photos are stunning! I love that dress. The color is so pretty on you.
24. Courtney | July 29th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
I absolutely LOVE this dress. Love the cut, the color, the fabric. I love it.
25. clever nettle » Ros&hellip | August 13th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
[...] summer I am all about roses. The above blooms are from our rose bushes in front of the house, they were planted long before we [...]
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