Lambert Gardens was a botanical garden of over in the Reed neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, USA. It opened in 1930 and closed in 1968 and had a total estimated visitor count of 2,000,000, most of them believed to be out-of-towners.
History
Andrew Lambert, a landscaper in Georgia, visited Portland in 1925 and liked the flora so much he decided to settle there permanently. He gave his half of the family business to his brother and purchased land at 5120 SE 28th Avenue in the late 1920s. Despite the high unemployment rate during the Great Depression, Lambert was able to employ 20 landscapers to look after the gardens, including the Sunken Rose Gardens and the Italian Court. After thieves stole hundreds of dollars from the wishing well on multiple occasions, Lambert decided to put up a 10 foot fence around the perimeter of the gardens. Gardens employees also appeared on local TV to give gardening demonstrations, such as preparing a flowerbed for planting. The landscaping was so popular that in 1934, Lambert and his crew were hired to plant around the nearby U.S. Customs Courthouse. Some years later, they were also hired to overhaul and renovate the grounds at the University of Portland.