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. You can learn about the plants and trees native to the Pacific Northwest by heading west to Dallas City Park, about a 15-mile drive west of Salem. While the park draws in masses of visitors with its swimming hole, picnic areas and 18-hole disc golf, the biggest draw for lovers of the natural world is the Delbert Hunter Arboretum and Botanical Garden. This nonprofit living museum features everything from ecological alpine to riparian ecological niches along the banks of Rickreall Creek. At Salem’s Sebright Gardens, you can explore the magical world of shade plants from wispy hostas and ferns to epimediums. 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 during the spring peony season and open their gardens to the public for peak bloom. Schreiner’s Gardens is another must-visit, with over 500 varieties of irises on display during the May bloom season alongside Icelandic poppies, delphinium and lupine. 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 early spring. While the tulip display beds are the big draw, the festival also entices visitors with field tours in its “tulip train,” a children’s play area, The Oregon Garden and a market where guests can pick up snacks, wine and — of course — tulip bulbs. Farther north, in St. Paul, the Cecil & Molly Smith Garden is the perfect setting for a springtime stroll, with more than 600 rhododendrons. The garden is open on weekends in April and May when flowers are at their peak. Just outside of Monmouth, Dancing Oaks Nursery and Gardens is worth a visit to see its massive display garden packed with trees and perennials from across the globe. Late summer is the time for dahlia fans, when you can see them in their colorful glory at Frey’s Dahlias in Turner from August through October. Any season is ideal for a visit to the Oregon Garden, an 80-acre estate that’s home to one of the nation’s largest collections of dwarf conifers. The Oregon Garden 23 TravelSalem.com
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