PHOTOS: The flower gardens at Adelman are open - a free escape from the pandemic

The peonies are in bloom and available for sale or just to enjoy at Adelman Peony Gardens northeast of Salem. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)

A bright swath of color spreads across 25 acres of open farmland north of Salem from mid May to mid June at Adleman Peony Gardens.

A crisis in the apple industry in the 1980’s precipitated a change in the family farm from “Adelman Orchards” to Adelman Peony Gardens, now one of the largest, publicly accessible peony farms in the country. Peonies from Adeleman are now marketed to The Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, and Canada.

As Oregon begins to open up during the pandemic, Adelman Peony Gardens is once again open to the public. Admission is free to the display garden and the farm and hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Carefully mowed and maintained grass pathways through the rows of peonies, provides easy walking access to the gardens rain or shine.

Adelman Peony Gardens is located at 5690 Brooklake Rd N.E. Cut flowers and plants are for sale at the garden, or by phone, or through the garden’s website: www.peonyparadise.com.

The peonies are in bloom and available for sale or just to enjoy at Adelman Peony Gardens northeast of Salem. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)

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Ron Cooper

Photographer Ron Cooper and his wife Penny moved to Salem in 1969 to take a job as photographer at the Oregon Statesman (later the Statesman Journal). Their three children, Monica, Kimberly, and Christopher, attended and graduated from Salem public schools. Cooper retired from the Statesman Journal in 2001 but, has continued his passion for photography in many ways, including as a photographer for the Salem Reporter.