Friday, March 29, 2024
Home NW People NW People Profiles Meet Harry Landers, International Rose Test Garden

Meet Harry Landers, International Rose Test Garden

By Teresa Kenney

MORE THAN 10,000 ROSES representing 650 varietals can be found in the 4.5-acre International Rose Test Garden in Portland, Ore.’s Washington Park. Founded in 1917, it is the oldest official continuously operating public rose test garden in the United States, drawing more than 500,000 visitors each year. And behind all of its beauty is one man and his gardening shears: botanic specialist and curator Harry Landers.

Growing up on a farm in North Dakota, Landers seemed destined for his chosen field, even if working in the fields wasn’t exactly his forte. “My mother was a big gardener and my father farmed grain. I was a lousy farm boy-I wasn’t very good at plowing fields,” he recalls. But gardening- that was a different matter altogether. After receiving his degree in horticulture from the University of North Dakota, he held a number of positions, including greenhouse owner, flower shop manager and private cemetery horticulturist, tending to 50,000 bedding plants.

Then in December 1984, he paid a visit to the Rose Gardens when he was in town visiting his brother-in-law. “I said, ‘someday, I will work here,’” he recalls. And four years later, his prediction came true. The only full-time employee of the gardens, he has two part-time assistants in the summer and a team of dedicated volunteers who help him keep the grounds beautiful and blooming year-round.

“Roses don’t go dormant; they will keep growing as long as you prune them. We cut them back to 3 feet in November, and then in February, we prune them to 18 inches,” he explains.

The gorgeous grounds courtesy of Landers and crew-have served as a remarkable backdrop for private events. Weddings are especially popular, and the gardens can accommodate 110 for a simple stand-up ceremony. In addition, special use, preapproved events for up to 2,000 can be held in the amphitheater, while a number of picnic spaces that can hold 100-plus are available in Washington Park.

When Landers isn’t tending to the rose bushes and display beds at work, he can be found in his own garden at home. But don’t expect to see a yard full of roses. “I have a very lush tropical garden at home … no lawn,” says Landers. “It’s banana trees,palm trees, tree ferns-it’s very crowded.”

RECENT POSTS