As you enter the garden the Welcome Sign reads,

“This garden was created as a place for you to enjoy and learn more about rhododendrons, Hillsboro’s official city flower.”

More digging to make way for the species bed. February  2006

THOMAS JEFFERSON:

Though an old man I am but a young gardener.

VITA SACKVILLE-WEST:

The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied. They always look forward to doing something better than they have ever done before.

Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it. 

~Author Unknown

Green fingers are the extension of a verdant heart. 

~Russell Page

Rood Bridge Rhododendron Garden

History

This garden was created as a place for you to enjoy and learn more about rhododendrons. Our garden features hundreds of varieties of hybrid and species rhododendrons, along with thousands of companion plants. Inviting pathways that wind through the

garden and along small creeks enable visitors to enjoy the woodland setting and explore the incredible variety of plants on display.

This garden has its roots in an idea launched in the early 1960’s: creating a garden to showcase the diverse variety of rhododendrons, designated as Hillsboro’s official City flower in 1962. Over the decades, the Men’s Garden Club (now the Tualatin Valley Garden Club) sought a location for a garden to showcase rhododendrons. An appropriate site was found in 2001 at Rood Bridge Park.

Members of the Tualatin Valley Garden Club, Tualatin Valley Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society, the Beautification

Committee and a number of groups and individuals raised funds to launch the project in 2002.

A steering committee from the garden clubs worked with Hillsboro Parks & Recreation, and many months were spent planning the garden. Many nurseries and growers donated plants or provided significant discounts, and volunteers helped with bed preparation and planting to stretch funds. In 2003, the garden was officially named in honor of Lloyd Baron, in recognition of his many years of service to the community, and his persistence over four decades of dedication to the creation of the garden you enjoy here today.