At the peak of Oregon’s summer you’ll find peachy dahlias, buttercream roses and frilly peonies popping up in urban gardens and flower farms across the state. While the farms range in scale from tiny postage stamp-size plots to expansive fields, they all produce flowers that dazzle. Here are a variety of flower farms in Portland and the Willamette Valley offering floral workshops, U-pick and other garden experiences throughout the growing season.
U-Pick Arrangements and Inspiration South of Portland
At Farmette in the hills of West Linn — south of Portland along the Willamette River — Hayley Rudken tends to an English-inspired rose farm with organic practices providing an oasis for honeybees, ladybirds, butterflies and other pollinators. On a tiny, productive field, she grows over 2,000 fragrant roses in classic cream and peach tones.
As soon as spring blooms begin, Rudken welcomes guests to the garden, hosting workshops that range from plein-air (outdoor) painting to sip-and-clip afternoons — a flower-arranging event where you can cut your own roses and enjoy them with an adult beverage in the flower fields. You can also book the property’s charming Flower House for small celebrations throughout the summer.
Another U-pick opportunity awaits at Our Table Cooperative in Sherwood, an organic farm and community hub with a charming market and cafe. Cooperative members and their little ones can select and arrange one bouquet each week for eight weeks during peak season. The farm also offers ready-made bouquets at its market, as well as occasional events like sunset farm dinners and wood-fired pizza Fridays from May through September.
Near Rickreall, a community about 10 miles west of Salem, flower farmer Beth Syphers also hosts seasonal sip-and-clips. After a garden tour at Crowley House Flower Farm — where she grows a medley of ranunculus, scented geraniums and edible flowers like nasturtiums — you can choose and cut your own blooms, then create a floral arrangement while sipping local wines paired with small bites. For garden inspiration, browse the farm blog, Furrow & Flour, or pick up a copy of Syphers’ book.
Flower Design Workshops in Eugene
Located at the foot of Mt. Pisgah in Eugene, Charles Little & Company dates back to 1986 and has a longstanding focus on regenerating the land. Run by a husband-and-wife team, the 35-acre farm stretches along the Willamette River and draws artists and photographers for live painting and photo shoots.
On the farm, there’s foliage of all kinds growing year-round from ornamental herbs to grasses and grains. But spring is when a riot of colors appears with annual and perennial flowers such as pink and purple larkspur, splashy snapdragons and calla lilies. You’ll find a series of classes throughout the year offered at their Farm Stand, which was renovated in 2023 and is open May through mid-December. Summer highlights include flower crowns, bouquet design and guided U-pick arrangements.
Flower Crowns at an Urban Flower Farm in Portland
In 2013 Dena Lieberman started a pocket garden to support pollinators. Now she runs Sunblossom Farm, a sustainable bee-friendly micro-farm in Northeast Portland’s Cully neighborhood, an area known for its urban farms. In addition to a community-supported agriculture program and flower U-pick, Lieberman leads workshops on creating floral bouquets, crowns and wreaths.
She lets pollinators and customers guide her plantings each year and in June often has a mix of perennials like lupine, foxglove and firetail, plus annuals — ranging from early sweet peas and snapdragons to bright and cheery zinnias. For those who can’t get enough blooms, visitors can volunteer on set days in exchange for a free bucket of flowers.
Flowers in Trucks, Carts and Yoga Classes on Sauvie Island
On Sauvie Island, northwest of Portland, Chelsea Willis of Sweet Delilah Farm packs an abundance of roses, dinner-plate dahlias and more into a flourishing 1-acre plot. She hosts creative classes throughout the season, like making plant dyes. Other popular offerings include summer-solstice yoga and flower happy hours. Willis also launched Portland’s first farm-grown flower truck, a mobile garden shop that you can also rent for special events.
Over in Aurora, a popular town for antiquing about 20 miles south of Portland, you’ll find a smattering of flower farms including Petals & Pottery, where Lori Bierma’s 1-acre garden bursts with 75 varieties of flowers. Her farm isn’t open to the public, but she does sell hand-tied bouquets from a vintage-style flower cart on her property from April through October, at the Portland Flower Market and at the recently opened Whiskey Hill Store in nearby Hubbard.
Add morning yoga to your U-pick experience at the fifth-generation family-run Lee Farms in Tualatin — about a dozen miles southwest of Portland — at their Sunflower Festival in August. They also build a stunning sunflower maze and host dinner in the sprawling sunflower fields. It’s one of many flower festivals across the state, and lucky for us, there’s one for nearly every bloom.
