Before my daughter started her summer job, we enjoyed a staycation in Maine. At the top of her list was returning to Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, an hour up the coast from us. For her high school senior project Gemma designed a guide to Maine medicinal plants.
CMBG also combines botany and art; sculpture is an integral part of the gardens and seaside trails. My favorite was this supersized pinecone made of rusty old boat propellers.
We first came here with my kids' playgroup, so many years ago Gemma can't remember. There's a children's garden and fairy house building zone in the woods. We were relieved to see that no lady's-slippers were slain for this fairy abode. These woodland orchids grow naturally in Maine at this time of year.
For the botanically illiterate, such as me, plants were conveniently labeled. There was a Japanese accent to the design too, reminiscent of the gardens of Kyoto. At one point, I considered a career in Landscape Architecture until I learned that most work comes from designing parking lots.
We loved the exuberant colors of these Candelabra Primroses. The bright sunshine and dappled shade made photography challenging, but it was perfect weather for exploring the grounds.
The lilly pad pool reminded us of Monet's Garden in France.
Our favorite bloom was the Showy Lady's-Slipper, glowing in the midsummer light. I'm savoring these glorious June days. All too soon, I'll be back to work revising my manuscript. Boothbay Harbor, where these gardens are located, was another town that inspired my fictional Port George.
CM Botanical Gardens:
May 2015 Visit: spring blooms
August 2012 Visit water & sculpture
Blog Watch: if you enjoy botanical posts, check out garden bloggers Tina in Tennessee & Skeeter in Georgia, Les in Virginia, Rose in Illinois and Vivero in Texas. I'm a lazy gardener and prefer admiring the work of others.
Huffington Post posted this beautiful image in memory of those who lost their lives in the terrorist attack on Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, Turkey last night. ISIS attacked a Muslim country during the holy month of Ramadan. When will this senseless violence stop?
9 comments:
Truly lovely. Thank you!
Great photos. This is a dream walk! :-)
Greetings from London.
Such a lovely place that the camera captured in such splendid detail. Thanks.
Lucky you to have such a beautiful preserve so near by - and I love the boat propeller 'pine cone'!
(Most landscape architecture work comes from designing parking lots? Wow - reminds me of a Joni Mitchell song!)
What a beautiful place! And such a lovely daughter as well. Thanks for the shout-out for my blog--enjoying the beauties of nature is such a welcome respite from the insanity going on in our world today.
Lady's-Slipper deserves admiration for sure... It's a nice place, I especially like that photo with the Primula japonica. I'm always grateful for such labels because they make me see and understand more.
All, thanks!
Amanda, ha! Now I have Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi stuck in my head:
They took all the trees
And put them in a tree museum
And they charged all the people
A dollar and a half to see 'em
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
'Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And they put up a parking lot
Love the plants & flowers! Great shots.
Cue, thanks!
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