Mother's Day at The Rhododendron Gardens

Yesterday was a wonderful Mother's Day.  We spent the morning at church, and the highlight of service was a baby dedication for all of the extremely darling babies and little children that have joined our congregation this year.  The weather was stunning, and it was the perfect day for an outing, so after church we drove into Portland to visit the Rhododendron Gardens.

The Crystal Springs Rhododendron Gardens is located in Portland, Oregon right by Reed College in the Eastmoreland neighborhood.  You can read a little bit about the gardens history here.  This garden is roughly five acres, and is full of mature Rhododendrons and Azaleas, most of which are in full bloom right around Mother's Day.

This garden is so beautiful, one could walk around for hours enjoying the beauty.  We had a wonderful time exploring and snapping lots of pictures. Here is a photo tour of our visit.

We were greeted by this beautiful pink rhody when we first walked in.

As well as this huge Blue Atlas Cedar tree.

When you first enter the garden this is the view overlooking the bridge, such a pretty sight with the layers of trees and shrubs.

There are beautiful trees all throughout the garden.

There were so many different colors of rhododendron and azalea, I loved the way they were grouped together, such a beautifully planned out garden.

This picture gives perspective as to how large some of these Rhododendrons are, some were so tall it was amazing.

I love the yellow and orange flowers.

Here is Gary getting a close up of this buttery yellow variety.

There are various ponds throughout this garden, full of ducks and geese.

I love this hot pink pink color, my grandma's garden when I was a child was full of Rhodys and it is probably why I love these flowers so much.

...more pinks

 more stunning yellow and orange.

Beautiful layers of white to pink.

The Red Wing Blackbirds were singing all through the gardens, here I caught one mid flight, and you can see the pretty red on the shoulder of his wing.  We have these in our backyard as well, and love their singing.

The water makes a beautiful backdrop for all the plants.

Here Sarah and Joseph are enjoying all the ducks and geese, as well as the view.

Perfect spot for family pictures to add to the scrapbook!

Happy Mother's Day to this Goose Mom and her two little ones which were so cute!

After pausing to enjoy the birds and the water, we set off to hike through more trails.

I really loved the entry to this path.

and I really loved this stump, perfect gnome home :)

Another huge pink Rhododendron.

The red with pink was very pretty.

I love these bold colors.

We came upon a huge patch of shamrocks!

Another hot pink blossom.

A path of beautiful large Rhodys.

It was nice to stop in the shade by this waterfall, Gary and I are planning to put in a water feature this summer, it was inspiring to see all the different water features all around the garden.

The stone work throughout the garden was wonderful, here is a rock wall with ferns growing in multiple little pockets.

Near the end of our walk through the garden was this peaceful view under the bridge, such a pretty stream.

I enjoyed this mossy rock wall along the path.

Another waterfall.

This beautiful stone stairway led back up to the entrance.

 One last bit of pink.

What a wonderful outing this was, I would highly recommend visiting if you live nearby.  

After our trip to the Rhododendron Gardens we headed home for a nice relaxing evening, what a memorable mother's day!