Early SpringFest

Portland Oregon is a gardener's mecca. Visitors throng the world-famous International Rose Garden the Peninsula Park Rose Garden the Japanese Garden and the Crystal Springs Rhododendron garden year-round. But the excitement for many lies in the city's myriad local neighborhoods planted by homeowners for more than a century unheralded by outsiders but revered by locals. Mid-February begins a cornucopia of color bookmarked by daffodils that lasts until the end of March--none of Portland's features noted above (roses Japanese flora and rhododendrons let alone azaleas) are yet obvious.