GARDEN HOPPING IN PORTLAND\City of Roses' eye-popping gardens offer tranquil havens for travelers.

Byline: Susanne Hopkins Daily News Travel Editor

You could come to Portland to visit its museums, its oddities such as the 24-inch-wide Mill Ends Park, its lively, well-planned downtown or the spectacular scenery that surrounds this sprawling city on the banks of the Willamette River.

Or you could take time to smell the flowers.

(The flowers? After February's storms that flooded some areas of the city and wreaked millions of dollars in damage? Not to worry. Officials report that the majority of gardens including those I visited before the rains - escaped with only minor damage, if any at all. And a showy, if early, blooming season is expected).

Oregon's "City of Roses" blossoms in spring and summer with far more than roses. Rhododendrons, magnolia trees and azaleas are among the flora that put on a fantastic show in Portland's numerous gardens; at least 33 are open to the public.

As most travelers know, you can only travel at breakneck speed for so long. I had spent several days racing from sight to sight (mostly on foot), city to city before I reached Portland. And by the time I explored this vibrant town with its multitude of attractions, I was, as they say, all tuckered out. It was then I discovered the rejuvenating aspects of garden-hopping.

There's something about strolling wooded paths, sitting quietly near a small lake watching ducks glide by, catching a whiff of magnolias on the breeze and being surprised by the sight of vibrant blooms splashed about the landscape that calms the soul and quiets the mind.

I started my garden odyssey at the Hoyt Arboretum, which has also been called Portland's outdoor tree museum. You can tramp through 10 miles of hiking trails, view 800 species of trees and shrubs from six continents, visit the handsome Oregon Vietnam Veterans Living Memorial (a circle of six granite walls inscribed with the names of Oregonians who died in the Vietnam War or were listed as missing) and even connect to the city's 40-mile Loop trail system from this rambling garden in the city's Washington Park.

I hooked up with volunteer Ehrick Wheeler, who spent a good amount of time telling me how much he disliked Los Angeles and us Southern Californians, but who nevertheless offered some insights into the arboretum.

"We have probably the largest collection of conifers in the United States," he said as we journeyed up and down hills toward the grove of magnolia trees. "We have about 205 conifer species." Not to mention the flowering species and all the shrubs.

He pointed out some of the trees - the Asian magnolia, the Chilean monkey puzzle tree. "It's a museum," he said of the arboretum. "But it's natural . . . You can walk around and hear the birds, see the trees, touch the bark, smell the flowers."

All the flora is labeled here, so you can readily identify a European weeping beech, a cedar from Northern Africa and Brewer's weeping spruce, which Oregon claims as its own.

Washington Park is also home to two other gardens: the Japanese Gardens and the International Rose Test Gardens.

Perched high atop a hill, the Japanese Gardens are a stunning spectacle of color and symmetry. While you can wait for a shuttle to take you up the steep walkway to the entrance, I hoofed it - and discovered some wonderful vistas.

Inside, there's a tranquil world where five traditional Japanese gardens flourish over 5-1/2 acres: the Flat Garden, the Strolling Pond Garden, the Tea Garden, the Natural Garden and the Sand and Stone Garden.

I came first to the Flat Garden, with its bonsai azaleas, temple statuary - and a stunning view of Portland. Standing there, on top of the world, my tiredness vanished.

There's something about the Japanese Gardens that slows one down. I took my time wandering the paths, taking pleasure in the little brooks and the nooks for sitting and pondering, the splashes of fuchsia, white and crimson azaleas, the waterfalls and rhododendrons.

I reveled in the quiet, broken only by the sound of the breeze ruffling the trees, the gentle waterfalls and occasionally, the croaks of a few frogs.

There is much to discover here: lovely statuary; koi and lily ponds; the tea house made mostly in the old Japanese way with pegs rather than nails; stately bridges, one of which twists through beds of iris; the poetry stone that's inscribed with a haiku, a traditional Japanese poetry form. Later, I discover its translation: "Here I saw the same soft spring as in Japan."

Not far from the Japanese Gardens is the International Rose Test Gardens, which, appropriately, sits on a hill overlooking the City of Roses. It is the oldest public rose test garden in the country; its main function is to test new varieties, including miniature roses.

The roses weren't in bloom, so I missed the panorama of color, but I could envision its glory. The neat, terraced beds of nearly 10,000 roses in more than 400 varieties are marked: There's the vivid red Mr. Lincoln next to the cooler Blue Nell, for example, beds of peach roses opposite those of crimson.

There are several gardens here: the Royal Rosarian Garden, an elegant array of old roses, many of which are no longer available commercially; the Gold Medal Garden, which blooms with varieties that have won the garden's annual awards for performance; the miniature rose gardens; and perhaps the most charming of all, the Shakespearean Garden, an enclave where flowers and herbs mentioned in Shakespeare's plays grow.

Next on my list was Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden. Set on seven acres in suburban Portland with a golf course as its back yard, it's a sunny, friendly haven with a feature none of the others had: ducks.

They waddled up to me and other visitors, hoping for a little treat. They flapped along after me as I crossed the Arched Bridge; we parted company as I made my way down to a waterfall splashing merrily into a brook, then followed the path by rainbow groves of rhododendrons to Crystal Springs Lake. Here, shaded by lovely trees and an array of orange, red, pink, purple and salmon rhododendrons, mallards, Canadian geese, wood ducks, coots, even heron glided by. Some took a dip in the lake's fountain.

Azaleas bloom here, too, and I wandered through groves of them, taking deep whiffs of the pungent wet bark and earth. It was, I decided, a thoroughly satisfying reprieve from the frantic hustle and bustle just minutes away in the city.

Portland has its own secret garden - it's called Elk Rock Garden, or the moniker I prefer, the Bishop's Close. It is a private garden that is open to the public. With the aid of a city map, I found my way to a neighborhood of exclusive homes. There, at the end of Military Lane, was a walled estate. Once a family home, the English-style, ivy-covered stone house is now the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon. The gate was open; only a few cars were in the parking area.

I parked my car and set off down a peaceful garden path that circled the house and its neat lawn. A serpentine path wound around above the Willamette River. Here and there, rock steps led to hideaway places, where Japanese iris poked up their purple heads and azaleas blossomed in profusion. This is a garden of surprises - a lily pond here, startling flora there, ferns and redwoods providing shady nooks where benches were positioned for picturesque views of the river.

I followed a pebble path and, to my delight, found myself in a miniature boxwood maze. It didn't take me long to find my way out, but I enjoyed it so much I did it again.

Jane Austen would have been right at home here, I decided.

My final stop on a Sunday morning just before boarding the plane for home was the Grotto, a Catholic sanctuary renowned for its sacred gardens. Mass was just ending when I arrived; in addition to the gardens, the retreat is home to the Chapel of Mary and an amphitheater.

Our Lady's Grotto is behind the amphitheater - a cave carved into the base of a 110-foot cliff. At its center on a tall, carved pedestal is a marble replica of Michelangelo's Pieta.

At the gift shop, I spent $1.50 for a token that allowed me to use the elevator for a ride to the top of the cliff, where 60 or so acres are planted.

I walked out of the elevator into a vision of skyscraping firs, lush ferns, ponds and a colorful palette of flowers. Panoramic views of the Cascade Mountains, Portland, even Mount St. Helens surrounded me.

Broad pathways meandered through the gardens, where azaleas, poppies, hydrangeas and iris bloomed. A small, red wooden chapel, St. Anne's, was tucked into a bower of trees and statues of saints presided over the array of flora. I studied the Peace Garden, which takes its theme from the 15 mysteries of the rosary - joyful, sorrowful and glorious events in the life of Jesus Christ. A flowing brook and a peaceful pond represent the waters of baptism.

The quiet was broken only by the sound of a robin's fluttering wings as it bathed in a brook and the occasional caw of a black bird. I made my way to the Meditation Chapel and sat in one of the leather chairs that faced a solid wall of glass overlooking the mountains and the city. The chairs had seen much wear; many people had obviously sought solace here.

I think they, like I, must have found it.

On location

Here's where to find the Portland gardens the writer visited:

Hoyt Arboretum, 4000 S.W. Fairview Blvd. in Washington Park; [phone]; open daily during daylight hours; free.

Japanese Gardens, 611 S. W. Kingston St. in Washington Park; [phone]; open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily in spring and fall, until 8 p.m. in summer and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in winter; admission $5 adults, $2.50 students and seniors.

International Rose Test Gardens, 400 S.W. Kingston St. in Washington Park; [phone]; open daily 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; free.

Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden, S.E. 28th Avenue, one block north of Woodstock Street; [phone]; open daily during daylight hours, March 1 through Labor Day; admission $2 adults, children under 12 free.

The Bishop's Close, 11800 S.W. Military Lane; [phone]; open daily during daylight hours; free.

The Grotto, N.E. Sandy Boulevard and 85th Street; [phone]; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily in winter, to 8 p.m. in summer; admission, $1.50, 5 and under free.

For more information, call the Portland, Ore., Visitors Association, [phone].

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO[ordinal indicator, masculine]CHART

Photo (1--Color) An angel statue contrasts with blossoms in the Grotto. Susanne Hopkins/Daily News (2--Color) Services are conducted at the Chapel of Mary in the Grotto. (3--Color) Washington Park's Japanese Garden is a place of quiet and serenity in a bustling city. Susanne Hopkins/Daily News (4--Color) A blossom in the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden. Box On location (See text)