Lambert Gardens was a private botanical garden

Botanical garden

A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...

 of over 30 acres (120,000 m²) in the Reed neighborhood

Reed, Portland, Oregon

The Reed neighborhood of Portland, Oregon is in the southeast section of the city, just north of the campus of Reed College.The neighborhood is bounded on the west by railroad tracks, on the north by SE Holgate Ave., on the east by SE 39th Ave., and on the south by SE Reedway, SE Steele, and a...

 of Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, United States, north of Reed College

Reed College

Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...

 at SE 28th Ave. and SE Steele St. It was a significant attraction, drawing tens of thousands of visitors a year.

It was owned by Andrew Lambert, who turned the grounds of his former landscaping

Landscaping

Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including:# living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly referred to as gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal of creating a beautiful environment within the landscape.#...

 business into a series of thematic garden settings, such as the Sunken Rose Gardens and the Italian Court, complete with peacocks

Peafowl

Peafowl are two Asiatic species of flying birds in the genus Pavo of the pheasant family, Phasianidae, best known for the male's extravagant eye-spotted tail, which it displays as part of courtship. The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen, and the offspring peachicks. The adult female...

 and flamingo

Flamingo

Flamingos or flamingoes are gregarious wading birds in the genus Phoenicopterus , the only genus in the family Phoenicopteridae...

s.

By 1968, when Lambert grew too old to care for the gardens, he offered to sell them to the city of Portland; when they turned him down, he sold it to developers, who tore out the gardens and replaced them with apartment

Apartment

An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...

s and parking

Parking lot

A parking lot , also known as car lot, is a cleared area that is intended for parking vehicles. Usually, the term refers to a dedicated area that has been provided with a durable or semi-durable surface....

. One of the apartments built on the land is called "Lambert Gardens Apartments."

In September 2005, Lambert Gardens Apartments was acquired by neighboring complex Wimbledon Square and renamed "Wimbledon Gardens."

External links

• The Sunday Oregonian, 21 Mar 1965 article about Lambert and his gardens
• Cushman photo collection at U of Indiana archives. Search for more Lambert Gardens photos at this site.