This June Elaine and I visited the Oregon Garden, the 80-acre botanical garden in Silverton, Oregon. There are so many interesting plants from across the pacific northwest. I love all the sights, sounds, and smells there.

It’s always worth a visit to SE Portland’s Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden; this is especially true if you like rhododendrons, as they are omnipresent there.

16+ acres of lush forest and flowering plants from around the Northwest, and you will get a very different experience depending on what time of year you visit.

Even though it was in the heat of summertime, we still saw many animals in this botanical garden, including a few very happy and loud frogs.

Taken with my Canon AE-1, still hanging on from the late 1970s. A great little camera and a ton of fun to shoot with, even on a dark and rainy Portland day.

On a cool drizzly early spring morning, there were plenty of beautiful sights in the garden, from honking geese to blooming flowers of various varieties (including, yes, rhododendrons). Oh, and one huge nutria.

Always a fun Portland destination, especially this time of year when many of the plants are in bloom.

My favorite season at the Leach is springtime, when the first flowers appear and everything is deep, bright green…

Not the kind of overly manicured botanical garden that takes itself too seriously…

One of East Portland’s best spots without a doubt is Leach Botanical Garden. Full of ever-changing greenery, particularly from across the Pacific Northwest, you can find it on SE Claybourne Street, just a little off SE Foster Road and north of Mount Scott.