#54 Maine Thing To Do - Stroll Maine Gardens
Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens
Maine hosts a wide variety of gardens, but they’re usually found in Mainers’ yards! For a unique public experience, visit Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay. You’ll discover a dozen stunning ornamental gardens and exceptional natural beauty, waterfalls and fountains, and incomparable stonework and sculpture. Miles of trails allow you to experience shorefront and woodlands that are quintessentially Maine.
The Bibby and Harold Alfond Children’s Garden (Grand Opening July 8, 2010) is a two-acre wonderland with features drawn from the pages of books by authors with a Maine connection: Robert McCloskey, Barbara Cooney, E.B. White, and others. There are sculpted whales and dragons, a climbable bronze bear cub from Blueberries for Sal, live chickens, a low maze, boats, an adventure tree house, a story barn, a learning garden for young farmers, whimsical and colorful plantings, and much, much more. 
The Lerner Garden of the Five Senses, which opened in 2009, is a world-class sensory garden with an area concentrating on each sense, beautiful water features, and many other intriguing elements. Rose, rhododendron, kitchen, and meditation gardens, among others, are also part of the visitor experience on this 250-acre waterfront property off Barters Island Road in Boothbay. Native plants and wildflowers abound, and huge ledges covered in ferns and lichen are part of this exceptional landscape.
The Gardens offers art exhibits indoors and out and has a fine permanent collection of sculpture. Special events, programs, concerts, and dinners throughout the year appeal to all ages. The elegant Visitor Center is home to the Gardens Gift Shop and Kitchen Garden Café.
The Gardens opened in 2007 after 16 years of planning, building, and planting. Each year, more people from throughout the U.S. and beyond are delighted by what they find at Maine’s first and only botanical garden. To learn more, call (207) 633-4333 or visit www.MaineGardens.org.
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