Posts Tagged ‘pretty’

Digging Summer.

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

St. George Watershed Tour.

We have mere moments until it’s officially summer, 2010, so dig out the croquet set and squeeze the lemonade.

Here’s a list of tours and events to get your gardening inspiration reved up this summer. Please check back for updates. And if you know of others, or spot any errors, please note them in the comments below. Thanks! It’s going to be a very pretty summer.

June 18, Bangor, Liberty Garden Tour — Peonies.

June 18-19 – Stonington, 9th Annual Lupine Festival & Evergreen Garden Club Private Garden Tour – (pdf) (207) 563-4800.

Otisfield, McLaughlin Gardens with a Viewthis schedule hasn’t been posted yet. But it may be found at this link when it is.

July 8, Damariscotta, Miles Memorial Hospital League House and Garden Tour, 9 am – 4:30 pm, $25, 207 790-2009, $25.

July 11, Gardens in the Watershed, 10 am – 5 pm, rain or shine. (Photos from previous year.)

July 15 & 16, Camden House & Garden Tour, which this year also includes a Decorator Show House featuring designers from the area, and from away, 9:30 am – 4 pm, $25 advance, $30 day of tour, 207-236-8946. (2bnMaine postings from last year — More than flowers. Fish out of water.)

July 24, MDI, The Garden Club of Mount Desert Open Garden Day, rain or shine, 10am – 4 pm.

July 26, Sunday,11 am – 4 pm - Southwest Harbor House & Garden Tour, benefiting the library – ‘featuring six lovely gardens strung along the shore from Southwest Harbor to Manset, to Bass Harbor and up to West Tremont.’

July 29, Castine, Castine House & Garden Tour, “Under the Elms and By the Sea” presented by the Castine Historical Society.

August 11, Cranberry Island Home, Art & Garden Tour — Tickets for the tour (including round trip ferry, but not lunch) are $35 per person in advance ($20 tour, $15 reduced-fare ferry), or $49 the day of the tour ($25 tour, $24 normal ferry fare.) From their website — There will be eight stops on the tour:

  1. A nineteenth century sea captain’s home
  2. A garden that is part of the Archives of American Gardens of the Smithsonian Institute
  3. The Heliker-LaHotan Foundation, a beautiful compound of buildings hosting an artist residency program
  4. Musical events throughout the day at the Congregational Church
  5. Cranberry House and its Preble-Marr Historical Museum
  6. An Art Show throughout the day at Cranberry House
  7. A mile-long hiking trail leading to Cranberry Island’s magnificent back shore
  8. Lunch available at the café at Cranberry House

All summer – Belfast Friday Garden Tours, 10 am – 5 pm, $3 donation per garden.

All summer — Camden,  Garden Talks at Merryspring.

All summer — Boothbay, Maine Botanical Gardens Blog covers all their activities.

All summer — Garden Club Federation of Maine — Visiting Gardens & Tours.

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Belfast Open Gardens are open.

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

Maine Garden in summer.

The Belfast Open Garden Tours have already begun. Here’s a chance to visit some of the private, out of the way, gardens, not usually featured on traditional garden tours.

These are the remaining Friday tours as posted on their website:

June 18 – Anthony-Greeley Garden, 291 Hatch Road, Jackson

Sweeping panoramic views surround island beds of rare perennials and trees. Extensive shade gardens, rock gardens, rambling paths through fascinating woodland plants and a small formal garden. Iced tea will be provided. Bring a picnic and a blanket. >>>Directions:  North on Rt.7 through Brooks. In 4 miles you will pass a church at the Jackson intersection. Continue 1 more mile on Rt.7, turn on Hatch Road on the left. Drive 1.4 miles to a small, white garage on right, bear right on lane just to left of garage and up to the top of the hill.

June 25 – Banwell Garden, 133 Miller Street, Belfast

Trellis structures define gardens & meandering paths connect gardens; kitchen garden includes edible flowers, meditation garden, heather, fragrant flowers and herbs, 3-bin composting system. Bring a picnic to enjoy on a garden bench. >>>Directions: From the Belfast intersection of Main and High Streets, take High Street to Miller Street at the Public Library.  Go up Miller to the house with the trellis fence on the right. Park along the road.

July 2 – Berry Garden, 10 Edgecomb Road, Belfast

A flower garden with whimsical statues and birdhouses popping up here and there. A pond and fountains, shade garden, flowering bushes, small orchard. Places to sit and relax in the sun and the shade. Also a raised vegetable bed and grandson’s own garden. >>>Directions: Take Rt.3 west. Turn left after Perry’s Furniture on Edgecomb Road.  Third house on left.

July 9 – Please enjoy the Waldo County General Hospital’s Garden Tour.

July 16 – Rogers and Hayes Neighbors’ Gardens, 27 & 35 Church Street, Belfast

Rogers’ former 1800s carriage & sleigh for hire service barn & grounds evoke country living with stacked firewood, raised vegetable beds, heirloom raspberry patch & synthetic chemical-free lawn (with weeds). Hayes offers more manicured style. Outside, a variety of day lilies, roses, a trellis arch and flowering shrubs will catch your eye.  Step inside the glass and brick conservatory to admire the orchid collection. >>>Directions:  At Post Office Square in Belfast take Church Street to, it’s on the left.

July 23 – Durham and Cole Neighbors’ Gardens, 30 & 31 Condon Street, Belfast

Durham garden has established perennial beds and features century-old trees. The Cole garden is a work in progress, starting from scratch. This is the second year the gardener has been working to create sunny perennial gardens with flowering bushes. >>>Directions: From Post Office Square in Belfast take Church Street to Northport Avenue.

Turn left off Northport Avenue to Condon Street.  Gardens on opposite sides of street.

July 30 – Jim Rose Garden, 2 Trout Brook Lane, Searsport

Artful rock display at entrance on challenging steep embankment and “dragon tail” of stones along 100’ driveway.  Japanese Zen Garden with raked sand, unique bushes, trees and evergreens and traditional perennial garden in the California style. Slate patio with center fire pit. From patio are large steps leading to a promenade with annuals and perennials overlooking Trout Brook below. >>>Directions:  North on US Rt.1 from Belfast to Searsport. Turn left on Spruce Knoll Lane just past Searsport Automotive. Turn right on Trout Brook Lane.  First house on the left.

August 6 – Buron Garden, 101 Congress Street, Belfast

New England heritage plants in garden at the street and small, informal shade gardens tucked behind 1878 home. Inventive gardening on narrow, half-acre in-town lot features a woodland path invitingly leading to a sun-filled field. See if you can spot the fairy house made of stones and moss under the leaves in the shade garden.  >>>Directions: From Post Office Square, go up Main Street hill to a left on Congress Street.  House is on the right.

August 13 – Newforest Institute Gardens, 66 Monroe Hwy (Rt.139), Brooks

This educational nonprofit has 8 acres of demonstration vegetable, herb and flower gardens plus an “edible forest” including fruit & nut trees and berries. See a seedling house, cold frames, garlic berm, mushroom logs, terraced gardens that also serve as a water collection system, sheet mulched beds and a 2-position movable greenhouse. >>>Directions: From Belfast, follow Rt.7 north to Brooks. At blinking red light in center of town turn right on Rt. 139 /Monroe Hwy. Gardens are about 1 mile on left.

August 20 – Abbuhl Garden, 50 Shore Road, Northport

What was a back yard of bamboo is now a well integrated landscape design surrounding a 1690 Cape. Begins with woodbine climbing the telephone pole at the street unfolding back to the hydrangea on the rear fence of stone terraced garden. Memorial Garden features beach roses, hosta, pink granite stonework and 300 year old maple trees. >>>Directions: South on US Rt.1 to left on Saturday Cove Road in Northport. Right on Shore Road, house immediately on left.

August 27 – Biebel Garden, 242 Fisher Road, Monroe

Large organic experimental and eclectic vegetable and flower garden created lasagna- style from packing cartons, cow manure & grass clippings never needing to be plowed or rototilled. Bed of thyme around woodshed, composting system, hollyhocks.  >>>Directions: Rt.1 north from Belfast to Rt.141, travel to end at intersection of Rt.141 and Rt.139 (stop sign). Turn right on Rt.139, cross bridge and turn right on Stream Road. Travel approximately 2 miles to Fisher Road on left. House is 2 miles from intersection, across road from mailbox marked, “242”.  Park along driveway.

September 3 – Enjoy Labor Day Weekend at a Maine garden.

September 10 – Troy Howard Middle School Garden, 173 Lincolnville Ave., Belfast

Over 100 varieties of vegetables and beautiful flowers in over 1 acre of gardens designed & grown by middle school students for wholesale & retail; greenhouses, outdoor pizza oven, dome trellises for squash and cucumbers, farm stand and student-led tours 10-3:30. >>>Directions: Take Rt.52 (Lincolnville Ave.) west from Main Street in Belfast. Cross Rt.1, school on right. Park behind school near greenhouse.


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Go!

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Asticou Gardens, Northeast Harbor, Maine

It’s the perfect time to catch the spring glory of this fantastic Japanese Garden in Northeast Harbor just across the street from The Asticou Inn.

Asticou Gardens, Northeast Harbor, Maine

The flaming colors of azeleas are perfectly framed within this stunning landscape. And vice versa.

This 2.3 acre garden was designed by Charles K. Savage (1903-1979), who was a resident of Northeast Harbor, owner of the Asticou Inn, and designer of the gardens at Thuya Lodge.

Asticou was conceived as a way to salvage Beatrix Farrand’s plantings after she announced she would dismantle her famous garden. And was built between 1956 and 1957 on a stream that flows into the harbor. Savage was her mentor.

Asticou Gardens, Northeast Harbor, Maine

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. provided some of the original funds. But today the garden is owned and maintained by the Mount Desert Land and Garden Preserve and a committee of volunteers.

Asticou was named one of the best Japanese Gardens in the US — 11th out of 300. You might like to visit these other Japanese Gardens in Maine.

To get the full picture of the Savage Gardens read Letitia Baldwin’s Two Island Gardens.

The Garden Preserve has a nice map and good directions on how to get there. And you can also try the Island Explorer bus.


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Smoking sea.

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

Sea smoke occurs when the air is much colder than the water below. It’s essentially a cloud. The evaporation happens faster than the air can absorb the water vapor and the surface wind blows it across the sea.

Just another beautiful, but chilly, part of winter in Maine.

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Moss slippers.

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

Moss slippers on the trees in Maine.

Bright green moss creates soft, elegant slippers for shady trees at the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden in Boothbay — just one of the millions of beautiful spots you’ll find moss growing in Maine.

Maine trees wear moss slippers.

There are some who consider moss a weed, and eliminate it whenever possible. Others, especially the Japanese, appreciate it’s beauty and have perfected the art of moss gardens. – Images of Saiho-ji Zen Garden, known as Kokedera (Moss Temple) in Kyoto.

Moss slippers on the trees in Maine.

Moss requires low light and consistent moisture. In northern climates, moss is usually found on the north side of the tree or rock. And vice versa in the Southern Hemisphere. Where light is consistently low, it’s not so picky, and will grow anywhere.

Trees wear moss slippers in Maine.

There are multitudes of different mosses — about 100 species in an average US county.

They each have their own qualities. Spahagnum moss is very useful because it can hold 20 times it’s weight in liquid, and is often used in shipping nursery items to keep them fresh. It’s even used in surgical dressings. Spahagnym moss is believed to occupy 1% of the earth’s surface (half the area of the USA.)

Botanical illustration of mosses.

This illustration is from Wikipedia’s entry on moss.

It’s rumored that a great way to start moss is to put the moss you want to grow into a blender, with a bit of sugar and even more buttermilk, beer, or yogurt. Then spread the mixture on a clean, smooth surface — rocks, dirt, pot — and keep it moist with mist. Would love to know if anyone’s tried it.

More on moss – -

Moss Acres — online source for purchasing moss.

Brooklyn Botanical Garden/ Joni Blackburn — Mad  about Moss

George Schenk’s Moss Gardening: Including Lichens, Liverworts and Other Miniatures

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Blazing sunrise.

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

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Frightfully cool.

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Rock, paper, scissors, Wiscasset, Maine.

Stylish ghouls will find just the right Halloween gear in this hauntingly cool shop.

Rock, paper, scissors, Wiscasset, Maine.

Rock, Paper, Scissors, in Wiscasset is the sister shop of Smitten, and shares the same stylish gene pool.

Rock, paper, scissors. Wiscasset, Maine. Stuffed animals.

If the thought of encountering a store where you want everything you see makes you uneasy, then you’ll be horrified at what you find here.

Rock, paper, scissors interior. Wiscasset, Maine.

Wrapping paper, Rocks, paper, scissors. Wiscasset, Maine.

Terrified at the sophistication.

Rock, paper, scissors, stationary in every color. Wiscasset, Maine.

Frightened by all the shelves packed with beautiful papers and stationary. (Very much like shops you see all over Europe, but rarely in the US.)

Rock, paper, scissors, Wiscasset, Maine.

Rock, paper, scissors, Wiscasset, Maine.

And spooked by all the cool kid gear.

Rock, paper, scissors, Wiscasset, Maine.

Rock, paper, scissors, Halloween, Wiscasset, Maine.

It’s positively chilling how many great treats you’ll find here. But don’t be scared.

Rock, Paper, Scissors, 68 Main Street, Wiscasset, ME 04578, 207-882-9930

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Not a whimper.

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Fall

Leaves get raucous before the raking begins.

Fall foliage in Maine.

Fall foliage in Maine.

Fall foliage in Maine.

Pumpkin in Maine.

And the last of the garden is, or has been, harvested.

Prussel sprouts at the end of the growing season in Maine.

So ends the growing season in Maine.

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Berry pretty.

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

Bittersweet berries close up, Maine.

It’s hard to compete with the spectacular colors on the trees this time of year, but the bittersweet vine is fearless. And triumphant.

Bittersweet vine basket.

You’ll find it growing wild in woodland settings all over Maine. As well as decorating shops and homes.

Bittersweet basket, Wiscaset, Maine

It appears that the two varieties are hard to tell apart, except that the Oriental Bittersweet is thought to be ‘invasive,’ and the ‘native’ American Bittersweet is thought to be more timid.

Bittersweet vine, close-up, Maine.

Either one can steal the show.

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Food for spiders.

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

Spider web, Maine.

Spiders hopefully won’t be found in the lines at Market Basket, Chases Daily, or Farm Fare, but they have a fantastic alternative.

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