rhododendrons beneath the birches
  Photo by Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens
Arbor Garden, Midcoast Maine Botanical Gardens

Maine Gardens: Midcoast/Midstate Region

  • Including tours of private residential gardens in and around Bath, Belfast, Camden, and Wiscasset

Please e-mail listings, preferably in the format below, to: evergreenfoundationnh@gmail.com.

Photo by Blaine House

Pink phlox in Blaine House gardens.

Tours Monday, Wednesday, Friday, YEAR ROUND, 10, 10:30, 11


Blaine House

State and Capitol Streets, Augusta

Maine’s 19th-century governor’s mansion, surrounded by broad lawns edged with annuals, perennials, shrubs, and trees.  Free.  Admission on guided tours only; make reservations at mainestatemuseum.org/learn or 207-287-2301 at least 3 days in advance.
www.blainehouse.org

Photo by Blaine House

Blaine House gardens

Photo by Castine Inn

Castine Inn garden

Daily, YEAR ROUND, any time


Castine Inn Garden

33 Main Street, Castine

A small (7,500-square-foot) garden, mainly mature perennials and shrubs, adjacent to the inn and nicely screened from the street by its taller plants. Free.
207-326-4365
www.castineinn.com

Merryspring Nature Center Daylilly Garden

Photo by Merryspring Nature Center

Daylilly Garden at Merryspring Nature Center

Daily, YEAR ROUND, dawn to dusk


Merryspring Nature Center

30 Conway Road, Camden

The 66-acre site features a daylily garden, herb garden, hosta garden, rock garden, and rose garden, plus annual and perennial beds and an arboretum. The office is open Tuesday-Friday, 9-2. Free but donations encouraged.
207-236-2239
www.merryspring.org

Merryspring Nature Center Rose Garden & Cottage

Photo by Merryspring Nature Center

Rose Garden & Cottage at Merryspring Nature Center
Sycamore trees at Viles Arboretum

Photo by Viles Arboretum

Sycamore trees at Viles Arboretum

Daily, YEAR ROUND, dawn to dusk


Viles Arboretum

3 Hospital Street, Augusta

The 224-acre site includes the largest public hosta garden in Maine, with more than 200 varieties; a rock garden with nearly 50 species; large collections of lilacs, conifers, chestnuts, sycamores, apples, and other trees; and the state’s largest permanent outdoor art collection, all accessed on 6 miles of trails. Many plants are labeled. The Visitor Center is open 10:30-4:30, Wednesday-Saturday. Free but donations welcome.
207-626-7989
www.vilesarboretum.org

 

Photos by Pineland Farms

Gardens at Pineland Farms

Daily, SPRING-FALL, 8 am-dusk


Pineland Farms

15 Farm View Drive, New Gloucester

Formerly a state hospital for the mentally disabled, now owned by the non-profit Libra Foundation, the posh, well-groomed 5,000-acre complex includes a garden with 34 varieties of lilacs; a “Great Lawn” with water features, sweeps of daffodils and tulips, large annual beds, and distant views of the White Mountains; and a 1-acre garden with 6,000 annuals, 130 varieties of perennials, herb and vegetable gardens, conifer and blueberry beds, and an allée of 20 apple trees, all accessed on a quarter-mile of paved walkways.  Free.
207-688-4539
www.pinelandfarms.org

Photos by Pineland Farms

Gardens at Pineland Farms

Photo by Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

Giles Rhododendron & Perennial Garden at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

Daily, May 1 – OCTOBER 22, 9-5


Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

Off Route 27, Boothbay

One of New England’s newest public botanical gardens, but already its largest and most elaborate—and becoming more extensive every year. The 323-acre site includes vast display gardens and a large woodland rhododendron collection surrounding an impressive waterfall. $24. Advance admission tickets required.
207-633-8000
www.mainegardens.org

Photos by Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

Lerner Garden of the Five Senses at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens
Belfast Open Days garden

Photo by Belfast Garden Club

Belfast Open Days garden

Saturdays, JUNE 22 – AUGUST 17, 10-4, rain or shine


Belfast Open Days

14 private gardens open on 9 Saturdays in the coastal town of Belfast. $5, $35 season pass.
www.belfastgardenclub.org

Saturday, JULY 13, 11-4


Wiscasset Homes on Tour

Residential properties in Maine’s “prettiest village” and the surrounding communities of Alna, Dresden, Edgecomb, and Woolwich, including several of the splendid Federal houses built during Wiscasset’s early-19th-century golden age of shipbuilding and ocean trade. Optional picnic lunch, served on the lawn of the Nickels-Sortwell House.
www.wiscassetcreativealliance.org

Photo by the Camden Garden Club

Oceanfront garden on Camden Garden Club Tour

Thursday, JULY 18, 9:30-4, rain or shine


76th Annual Camden Garden Club Tour

6 private gardens in Camden. $40; $35 if tickets are bought before the tour date.
www.camdengardenclub.org

Seaside garden on the Garden & House Tour

Photo by the Camden Garden Club

Oceanfront garden on Camden Garden Club Tour

Photo by Sagadahoc Preservation, Inc.

House and Garden Tour

Saturday, JUNE 22, 10-3


18th Annual House & Garden Tour

Bath

Private properties, including many historic homes that, like those in Wiscasset, reflect the seaport town’s early-19th-century prosperity.
207-443-2174
www.sagadahocpreservation.org