Summer has arrived. With so much happening at once throughout the gardens of our Inn, it’s hard to single out one subject. So we didn’t, we chose three plants to highlight. Japanese Iris, cooking with garlic scapes and the common Tiger lily.

Japanese Iris

With the unusual amount of rain we had this spring everything is extremely lush and our flower gardens are flourishing. Especially grateful for the extra water is our collection of beautiful Japanese Iris. They prefer moist rich soil, and if we have a damp spring the reward is an abundance of showy blooms. We planted a few clumps about a decade ago that we purchased  from a friend who was a grower of these incredible perennials in Friendship, ME. She had devoted a field of them that led down to the sea with a stunning picturesque cove as a backdrop. As you can imagine, it was a breathtaking sight when they were all in bloom and a snapshot of that image remains in our memories. Since then we have divided these clumps countless times over the years to maintain their vigor and I keep remarking that we need more room in the garden and more friends to share with.

Garlic Scapes-Cooking

We grow many vegetables throughout the summer and garlic is one of them. It ranks number 1 on the list of “must haves” for us. To many of our guests’ surprise, growing this allium is one of the most undemanding and easiest plants to grow(we are getting ready to harvest our garlic and will be devoting an entire post to growing and storing it).

There is nothing like the flavor of your own fresh garlic and if you like to cook with it  you will have a tough time purchasing store bought again. One of the benefits of growing garlic is their scapes(seed heads) that you must clip off so the energy is concentrated on developing a larger garlic bulb. They are delicious, mild and versatile. You can sautee them and serve as a side dish(great with marinated grilled steak), steam and toss with veggies, stir fry and combine in Asian dishes, add to soups and the list goes on.

One of my favorite ways to prepare garlic scapes it to sautee them with tomatoes. I cut them into 2-3 in. pieces, sautee with olive oil until slightly soft, add a couple of chopped tomatoes, coarse salt, pinch of sugar, dash of crushed red pepper seeds, sprinkle of dried oregano(from our garden) and loosely cover with a round of parchment paper(or pot cover). Cook on a low simmer about 10 min. This is an excellent pizza topping or delicious tossed with pasta, some grated cheese, and a chiffonade of fresh basil. I don’t like to complicate cooking in the summer, I save that for the winter.

 

 

The Tiger lily

Ahh, the Tiger Lilies. You know it’s July when the Tigers are out. They never seem to get enough recognition yet I know we all see them when driving and suddenly notice these splashes of orange that appear to leap out. We’ve seen them planted at entrances to a drive, adorning country homes,  standing alone in a patch of lawn, clumped under business signs, swaths along roadsides, and even deep down in a ditch(that always amazes me). I especially enjoy the contrast of Tiger Lilies alongside historic white homes, the colors are reminiscent of the old summertime treat, the Creamsicle, that we enjoyed as kids. 

We have plenty of patches of our own. They stand behind rock walls or act as an entrance leading to some of our more formal gardens. Many years ago we cleaned out an old raspberry patch that was littered with Tigers and started transplanting them alongside our drive. They are a beautiful addition to the pink morning glories, that now climb there way to the top of the lily, combined with the wild roses and sweet ferns.

Maiden Cliff’s Scenic View

Maine has so much natural beauty to offer especially in our immediate area. Hiking Maiden Cliff is just another one on our list of perennial favorites like Mt Battie. Both destinations are just a small portion of the incredible trail system within the Camden Hills State Park.

Just a five minute drive from our Inn this short hike up a gravel path, through the woods, pass a massive boulder, over a bridge, up through some more woodlands and over some mild rockery to the summit (we’ve consistently timed the hike at 30 min.) offers breathtaking views of pristine Lake Megunticook, the Atlantic Ocean and the surrounding unspoiled country side from an 800′ sheer cliff. Impressive to say the least.

Many years ago we witnessed a real hair raiser, someone was actually trying to shimmy his way up the cross. No doubt on a dare from his friends. To date I’m glad to say we’ve never seen someone attempt that again and on most occasions we have the site to ourselves. For those interested in the brief history on why the cross was erected you may click here.

 

Maine has over 60 lighthouses, and thankfully many are accessible to visitors by foot others can be enjoyed by boat, as we’ve done aboard the schooner yacht “Heron” out of Rockport Harbor. Being lovers of the outdoors and admirer’s of natural beauty, Maine is the ideal place to explore and being explorer’s ourselves we find lighthouses to be one of many exciting destinations. Just the adventure alone in taking out the map and locating these lighthouses makes for memorable car conversation. Driving down winding roads, wondering if you’ve missed a turn and gone too far combined with the bantering back and forth on who’s fault it is (invariably mine) included with the serendipity of it all is priceless. There have been countless times that we have dicovered a gem due to a wrong turn and always reminisce those times (that’s when the person who’s fault it was just smiles).

Over the years we have been able to visit some of these magnificent lighthouses and I have oodles of negatives to prove it, but because I have always shot with film (and will continue to do so) the thought of culling through thousands of  negatives, processing them and posting them is far too daunting not to mention insane. So with that I have been beaten down and just purchased my first digital camera and will be posting additional images in time of these breath taking locations. We have visited many of the same lighthouses countless times due the draw of the arresting beauty and picturesque bold oceanfront site. Architecture always plays an important roll for us, and makes for interesting dinner conversation but all of the lighthouses that we have visited are unique and special in there own right.   They are rich in history and some of them even incorporate a museum, we love looking at all the old black and white images and try to imagine ourselves in the lightkeeper’s shoes during those times, seems so long ago.

There are several lighthouses only a short distance from our Inn that  if one was so inclined could include into a day of sightseeing along our beautiful Maine coastline. Many of our guests have remarked on how much they have appreciated our experience and guidance to visiting the lighthouses in our area and were grateful  for the assistance, and have commented that they couldn’t imagine missing these incredible sites during there stay in Maine. We look forward to our guests telling us of there own adventures and discoveries as much as they enjoy sharing their experiences with us. With Maine’s vast and diverse countryside and incredible rocky coast providing so much to see and do…….bit by bit we shall chew.

Reaching Mount Battie's summit

Mount Battie’s Turret-Coastal Scenery Views of Camden Maine’s Harbor And Surrounding Mountains.

Hiking remains a favorite activity for us and due of the nature of our business time can allow for us off season to take advantage of the abundance of natural beauty in Maine. However, it just so happens that  just 1 minute south of Cedarholm Garden Bay Inn is the Mid-Coast jewel  Camden Hills State Park.  If we can get away for 1 hour in season this is one of the places we go. Route 1 divides the park, there is the ocean side that provides some easy tree lined walking paths with limited access to the rocky shore and then there is the summit on the opposite side (our choice). You may drive or do what we do and walk to the top via the auto road (1.5 mi). There are 19 trails to hike in this incredibly beautiful park, a topic worthy devoting time to at a later date. The summit at Mount Battie offers 360 views of the mountains, islands and rocky coastline. Some of the sites, just to name a few, are Blue Hill, Isle Au Haut, the mountains of Acadia National Park and Monhegan Island. You can easily spend the day investigating all the rock formations, flora, birding, hiking and of course gazing at the gorgeous scenery. Speaking of which once you reach the summit one could never tire of the view, sunrises and sunsets are a must see, and for some the latter made even sweeter with wine and cheese.

Mountains of Acadia National Park in the background.

Looking out from Mount Battie’s Turret at Camden Harbor and islands.

There are also 360 degree views of numerous surrounding mountains such as Mt. Megunticook and Ragged Mountain.

A view of Camden Harbor from the top of the turret on Mount Battie.

I  can remember the first time spotting this little red beetle. It was many years ago and it was perched on the tip of one of the hundreds of hybrid lilies that grace our gardens. I thought wow what a beautiful color, isn’t nature amazing and continued on (those of you who have had experience with this beetle should be cringing at this point). Little did I know the destruction these tiny beetles were capable of.

As the summer flew by I started detecting a ridiculous amount of disgusting slug like creatures on the underside of the lily leaves that were feeding on all the greenery at an incredibly insane rate. I was beside myself and knew full well at this point that no matter what I was to do it was too late. The lilies were infested.  To make matters worse anyone I spoke to at our local garden centers at that time were completely unaware of a beetle that aggressively and specifically attacked hybrid lilies. They  had a look of disbelief and doubting eye as if  I was some crazy lady who had nothing better to do then to conjure up a bug.  So with that, I decided to fight back the best I could so as not to be completely defeated and do the only thing that made sense. I put on rubber gloves, scraped every lily leaf of eggs, larvae (not a fun moment) and crushed every red beetle I encountered (not bad, actually quite satisfying).

 By the time the lilies bloomed they had very few leaves, but at least they bloomed. Controlling these beetles has become just another maintenance task, and anyone who gardens knows that conquering insects is just one of countless battles (I wont even get into weather!) that comes with the dedication and passion of successful gardening.  I start inspecting as soon as the lilies break ground and use an organic spray that I have had good results with and by doing so I eliminate the infestation I will never forget.

 Winters are long in Maine and we look forward with great anticipation to enjoying our gardens, especially the hundreds of dramatic blooms and the intoxicating and exotic fragrance of our Oriental lilies. I have read about a parasitic wasp that is used for biological control in certain European countries has been released in Boston and part of Rhode Island. We’ll see, hopefully in my lifetime, but until then SPLAT!