Happy Friday, Gpoders!
A few weeks ago, I was traveling along the Maine coast with a friend for a camping trip, and it became convenient for me near the coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Booth Bay. Obviously, this was too a good opportunity to pass, so I extended my stay for an extra night and stopped by to check it out. No one is surprised, but the garden was absolutely alive with a selection of colours and a gorgeous plant. Here is a sampling of some of my favorite scenes.
Before I fully entered the garden, I was blown away by this “Coff-Out Icebreaker” Korean Fur (Abbies Koliana ‘Co-Out Icebreaker”, zones 5-8), surrounded by bright blue delphinium. Found in a bed just outside the main entrance, this combination conveyed cool and calm even on hot and sunny days.
As soon as I entered the main part of the garden, the calm and coolness ended. The bed and boundary were bursting with every colour I could imagine, so I was desperately trying to take it all in, picking up as much detail as I could and taking a decent photo. This gorgeous collage of low-growth plants under pink flowering dogs (Cornus floridaf. Rubra, Zones 5–9) was one of many outstanding.
There were a lot of huge, drastic scenes that blew me away, but some of the little vignettes were just as exciting. Coosagwood (Horny Coosa, Zones 5-8) with multi-blue clematis (Clematis x “Multi-blue”, zones 4-10) and bright pink climbing roses was spectacular at Arbor Garden.
If you’re following my trips and garden visits on a blog, you might remember that I prefer Woody. The bank of this troll (Ginkgo biloba ‘Troll’, Zones 3–9) was small, but caught my attention from miles away. If you want to add an interesting leaf shape and the fascinating history of this ancient tree to your garden, but the space is limited, this is a great option that grows to about 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide.
Near the cafe, along the outside of the large grass, this border of yellow, orange and Chartreuse absolutely glowed. All the plants in this section were very cohesive and complementary, but the female mantle (Alchemilla Mollis, Zones 3-8) cascaded over the stones in front was especially lovely.
These incredible “red giants” alliums (allium “red giants”, zones 3-9) were scattered around the garden, so I’m not sure exactly where this beautiful planting was, but I really enjoyed planting them among the golden creeping “Angelina” sedum.
Sometimes, even rare or rare plants wear scene-stealing performances. This “Josephine” Clematis (Clematis “Josephine”, Zones 4-10) was growing on one of the pond bridges. This gave me an incredible view of the garden, but the way this light hit the enormous herd of blue flowers caught my attention.
I needed a lot of sunscreen, but I couldn’t ask for a more perfect day to visit my garden. It wasn’t too hot, but slowly (and caught the shuttle whenever I could), the bright sky created dazzling reflections in every pond and water feature in the garden.
Of course, I couldn’t share my CMBG photos without sharing some of the iconic trolls. Thomas Dambo’s Guardians of the Seeds is as big a draw in the garden as any plant, showing how gardens and art hold their hands. Each troll represents a different part of the plant, and one of my favorites was soren, representing the branches. This is evident in his funky haircut, but Soren’s limbs reaching for the sky means branches that grow to access the sun.
Another favorite was Birk. This is the most difficult capture and appropriately symbolizes the roots. These trolls are a bit hiking to reach, but are well worth the effort. Spending time under the forest canopy is a nice grace from the sunny path of the garden.
Have you visited public gardens so far this year? If you travel to visit botanical gardens that are on your bucket list or to make a short trip to the local gardens you visit every year, you’d love to see some of the highlights of what you saw and captured! Follow the instructions below to send a photo by email or DM via Instagram: @girlherdogandtheroad.
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