A recreational paradise offering camp, bike, fish, golf, hike, river, snow, and surf activities

Because of the unique soils, microclimate and elevations, Oregon is a top producer of 225 different agricultural commodities: grass seed, mint, nursery and landscape plants, nuts and berries, hops and wine grapes. The state leads the nation in craft microbreweries per capita and grows the finest Pinot Noir grape in the Willamette Valley.

The diversity of natural resources, in flora, fauna and the land itself, is one of the most valued experiences that Oregon has to offer visitors. 

Grey to Green is a plan of action to maintain Portland as a national leader in green development practices & sustainable stormwater management. Solutions to restore watersheds, rivers and streams are to add more ecoroofs, construct green street facilities, plant yard & street trees, remove invasive plants and increase native plants, replace culverts and protect natural areas.

Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area and the Multnomah Falls, City of Hood River and Mt. Hood

Eco-roofs at the Port of Portland Building, M Financial Building, Oregon Health & Science University, and the Multnomah County Building

Cistus Nursery is a retail and mail order micro-nursery specializing in Mediterranean type plants and hardy tropicals that thrive in the northern Willamette Valley.

Joy Creek Nursery started by gardeners for gardeners, the primary focus is education, has 4.5 acres of display gardens, over 7,000 species, and weekly workshops.

Monrovia Nursery has 500 acres of container production, a tissue culture laboratory, produces 12 million liners annually, an award-winning office designed in the craftsman style and surrounding display gardens.

Washington Park features the oldest official public rose test garden in the USA with 6,800 rose bushes representing 557 varieties.

Terra Nova Nurseries is one of the world's foremost breeders of new perennials:  Heuchera, Tiarella, Echinacea, Coreopsis and Sedum.  

We skipped a day of inside lectures and drove north on Highway 101, parked and followed a trail into the forest of old-growth Sitka spruce, Douglas Fir, Western Hemlock and Red Cedar trees that extend all the way to a cove sheltered beach. The soothing forest on a hot summer day was full of pleasant surprises.

Sebright Gardens has many unusual and interesting plants with a heavy emphasis on hosta.  Gunnera, lilies, and calla lilies grow like weeds!

The McKee Garden  frames a gorgeous Willamette Valley outlook. It has a parterre garden outside the kitchen, natural rock work with great water falls and water courses, colorful perennial borders with Hazelnut shell mulching, chicken coop and a potters shed.

Northwest Garden is a densely planted collector's garden with a design framework:  a woodland garden filled with rare, shade loving perennials, a Mediterranean gravel garden with heat-adapted plants in poor soils and limited irrigation, a natural pond, and a hellebore breeding program.  
 
Portland Japanese Garden  is proclaimed as one of the most authentic Japanese gardens outside of Japan.   A 5.5-acre haven of tranquil beauty in the scenic west hills, the garden is composed of five separate garden styles.  Through  the careful use of plants, stones and water, areas of serene and quiet beauty emerge.

The Hockensmith Garden  an outstanding example of sustainable landscaping on a 40-acre property where both flora and fauna become a natural extension of the house, is featured in the Garden Design magazine May/June 2010 issue.