SALEM IS MOPO GARDENS & NATURE WALKS Head to the heart of town to find two gardens designed by Elizabeth Lord and Edith Schryver, the first women to launch a landscape architecture firm in the Pacific Northwest. Visit their former home, Gaiety Hollow, to tour their beautifully restored personal gardens in late March through spring. Less than half an acre in size, it’s an inspiring example of what a gardener can create on a small property. Just two blocks away, Deepwood Museum & Gardens is another enchanting example of the duo’s work, featuring a series of Beaux Arts-styled formal gardens on a 5-acre property. The gardens are open throughout the year from sunrise to sunset, while tours of the historic 1894 Queen Anne home are held Wednesday through Saturday. Over half the property consists of nature trails along with an extensive native-plant garden. From here it’s only a short drive to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, which welcomes visitors to its 40-acre rainbow of tulips during the annual tulip festival, held in late March through early April. While the tulip display gardens galore One of the great secrets of the Willamette Valley is that it’s a prime spot for lush and vibrant gardens to flourish. The generous winter rainfall followed by long, sun-soaked summer days and rich volcanic soil make a special kind of magic for gardens, and many of the state’s most exquisite ones are found around the Salem area. Ron Cooper Deepwood Gardens beds are the big draw, the festival also entices visitors with field tours in its “tulip train,” a children’s play area, and a market where guests can pick up snacks, wine and — of course — tulip bulbs. For something extra memorable, book a sunrise hot air balloon ride directly from the tulip field during the festival. While you’re in the neighborhood in May, pay a visit to Bush’s Pasture Park, a 90-acre expanse filled with a mix of grassy spaces and shady groves. If you love flowers, you’re in for a treat: Park highlights include a wildflower slope that’s blanketed with color every spring. There’s also the Rhododendron Hillside, where there are around 130 types of rhododendrons and azaleas, along with hundreds more companion plants. The park’s biggest highlight, however, is its Rose Garden, where you can stop and smell nearly 100 varieties of roses. Salem’s neighboring towns and rural areas offer more garden experiences. Just north of Salem, the Brooks area is home to plenty of flower farms. Both Brooks Gardens Peonies and Adelman Peony Gardens burst into color TravelSalem.com 12
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