Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden
Maine Gardens: Mount Desert Island, Ellsworth & Orono
- Including a tour of 6 outstanding residential landscapes in Seal Harbor
Please e-mail listings, preferably in the format below, to: [email protected].
Daily, YEAR ROUND, dawn to dusk
Asticou Terraces
Route 3, Northeast Harbor
Superb naturalistic landscape created by Boston landscape architect Joseph Henry Curtis at his former summer residence: A smooth half-mile path gently ascends a forested hillside, past handsome wood-and-stone gazebos with views of Northeast Harbor. The presence of only indigenous materials (granite, spruce trees, mosses, sheep laurel, and blueberry bushes) erases the line between the human-made and the natural. The path ends at the Thuya Lodge, Curtis’ summer home, and the Thuya Garden, described below. The Terraces are described at greater length, and illustrated with two color photographs, in The Woodland Garden. Donation requested.
207-276-3727
www.gardenpreserve.org; www.tclf.org
Photo by Littlefield Garden
Trees in bloom at the Littlefield Garden
Daily, YEAR ROUND, dawn to dusk
Lyle E. Littlefield Ornamentals Trial Garden
University of Maine, Orono
4 acres of perennials, shrubs, and trees in formal and informal groupings. Free.
207-581-3112
www.umaine.edu/littlefieldgarden/
Turrets Seaside Garden, College of the Atlantic
Daily, YEAR ROUND
College of the Atlantic
Route 3, Bar Harbor
A formal perennial garden, the vestige of terraces designed by Beatrix Farrand, and other small gardens on the college’s 38-acre campus, once the site of three oceanside estates. Free.
207-288-5015
www.coa.edu/gardens/
Daily, YEAR ROUND
Wild Gardens of Acadia
Route 3, Acadia National Park, about 2 miles south of Bar Harbor
Three-quarter-acre collection of 400 plant species, mainly perennials, all native to Mount Desert, labeled and arranged in 13 distinctive habitats (mountain, meadow, bog, brookside, etc.); maintained mainly by volunteers. Free.
800-625-0321; 207-288-3340
www.friendsofacadia.org
Photo by David Roza
Black House and gardens, Woodlawn Museum
Daily, YEAR ROUND, dawn to dusk
Woodlawn Museum
Route 172, Ellsworth
Beautiful brick Federal mansion with tall, elegant 18-pane windows (the Black House) on 180 acres with large old trees, perennial gardens, and a formal garden enclosed by a lilac hedge. Grounds free; house tours $15, Wednesday-Sunday, June-October.
207-667-8671
www.woodlawnmuseum.com
Photo by Woodlawn Museum
Garden at Woodlawn Museum
Photo by the Land & Garden Preserve
Asticou Azalea Garden
Daily, MAY-AUGUST, 10-6; SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 10-5
Asticou Azalea Garden
Intersection of Routes 3 and 198, Northeast Harbor
Serene, naturalistic 2.3-acre Japanese-inspired garden created by the amateur landscape designer Charles K. Savage; mainly evergreen trees and shrubs, including rhododendrons and azaleas taken from Reef Point, the former estate of the noted landscape architect Beatrix Farrand in Bar Harbor. Many of the plants are arranged along a stream and around two ponds. There’s also a Japanese-style raked-sand “pond” garden with rock “islands.” Peak azalea bloom is late June; rhododendrons and mountain laurel are most colorful in July. Suggested donation: $5.
207-276-3727
www.gardenpreserve.org
Photo by the Land & Garden Preserve
Asticou Azalea Garden
Photo by Charlotte Rhoades Park & Butterfly Garden.
Charlotte Rhoades Park & Butterfly Garden.
Daily, MID-MAY—MID-OCTOBER, dawn to dusk
Charlotte Rhoades Park & Butterfly Garden
On Norwood Cove, Route 102, Southwest Harbor
Lush, well-maintained one-acre seaside garden, mainly of annuals and perennials (including milkweed) that attract monarchs and other butterflies. $5 suggested donation per family.
207-244-9264: (Southwest Harbor Chamber of Commerce)
www.rhoadesbutterflygarden.org
Photo by Sue Ann Hodges
Terrace Garden at the rear of the Farrand Wing at Garland Farm
Thursdays, JUNE 20 – SEPTEMBER 19, 1-4
Garland Farm
475 Bay View Drive (off Route 3), Bar Harbor
Home and gardens of noted landscape architect Beatrix Farrand (designer of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden and other gardens on Mount Desert Island). Mainly perennial beds in symmetrical parterres, including heather, heath, and lavender gardens. $5 suggested donation.
207-288-0237
www.beatrixfarrandsociety.org
Photo by the Land & Garden Preserve
Thuya Garden
Wednesday-Sunday, JUNE 19-AUGUST, 11-6; SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 11-5
Thuya Garden
Route 3, Northeast Harbor
Mostly formal, straight-sided beds of perennials and annuals surrounded by a rolling lawn, with informal groups of trees and shrubs at the edge of the forest, which surrounds the one-acre garden. Like the Asticou Azalea Garden, it was created by Charles K. Savage with plants taken from the former Bar Harbor estate of Beatrix Farrand. Thuya, incidentally, is the phonetic spelling of Thuja, the scientific name for cedar (Thuja occidentalis), which thrives on Mount Desert Island and which was used to build the Thuya Lodge. Suggested donation: $5.
207-276-3727
www.gardenpreserve.org
Photo by the Land & Garden Preserve
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden
Tuesday-Thursday, Saturday, JULY 11 – SEPTEMBER 19, 12-4
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden
Designed by the wife of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and the noted landscape architect Beatrix Farrand at the former Rockefeller estate in Seal Harbor. Large perennial beds in curving, symmetrical parterres; extensive Asian statuary and moon gates; ocean views. Guided half-hour tours, by reservation only, rain or shine. $15.
207-276-3727
www.gardenpreserve.org
Photo by the Land & Garden Preserve
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden
Saturday, JULY 27, 10-4, rain or shine
Open Garden Day
Seal Harbor
Six outstanding residential gardens on the Garden Club of Mount Desert’s biennial tour. $45; $40 if tickets are bought before the tour date.
207-276-5452
www.gardenclubofmountdesert.org