An abundance of colorful perennials and annuals blooming right now. Here are just a few pics of some gardens at our oceanfront Bed and Breakfast Inn Camden, Maine.

One Of Our First Gardens Created

This garden has developed over 15 years of planting, back breaking lifting, dividing, & transplanting.  Like all of our gardens we are never fully satisfied with all the colors and textures within, it is a continual work in progress.

Lots Of Color

Lavender plants border this colorful garden filled with Asiatic and Oriental Lilies, Poppies, and Rudbeckia.

West Side Of Guest Registration

Guest Registration Entrance

Guests are greeted with a beautiful mix of colors at our guest registration entrance. Nearly all of our annuals are started by seed, most of which are purchased from Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Winslow Maine, then germinated and nurtured in our greenhouse until planting day.

We Love Sunflowers

Many colorful varieties of sunflowers dot numerous spaces around our Inn. We have created a special haven for all kinds of birds, bees, butterflies, and moths. It is an incredible sight to watch all of the hummingbirds zoom around like fighter jets from garden to garden and it’s especially enjoyable watching them quench their thirsts from our garden hose while we are watering the plants.

This Pathway Leads To Another Water Fountain

This perennial garden is set on the eastern side of our property and contains a water feature that attracts green and brown frogs.

We Built This In 2001

All of the gardens that we have created have been done the old fashioned way with hand tools,  pick axes, shovels etc.. With that being said, over the years we have amassed a hefty amount of rocks and boulders from the earth while preparing new flower beds. These stones are saved and piled in an area for future use. Every stone wall and stone feature, and we have quite a few, is our creation using the stones and rocks unearthed over the years.

Rose Arbor And Cherub Garden

This garden is situated on the northeastern side of our property and features a cherub fountain at the end of the crushed granite pathway.

The pathway wyes out to lawn and our grape arbor, apple trees, cutting flower garden and one of our vegetable gardens containing squash, basil, swiss chard, pole beans, bush beans, snow peas, and pumpkins!

Rose Arbor and Cherub Garden

Our Rose Arbor

Cherub Fountain

Squash And Pumpkin Patch

Plenty of squash to sustain us through the winter and the pumpkins will decorate the entrance to our Inn come Fall Harvest season.

Camden, Maine

So hard to choose what to highlight with so much happening at once. But here are a few picks.

Oriental Poppies

Oriental poppies add a colorful punch in our expansive perennial “S” garden with a large and fragrant Lilac shrub in full bloom in the background.

Bearded Iris

Intense blue Veronica provides a dramatic background for the delicate colors of this German Iris.

Rhododendron

One of many blooming Rhododendrons here at our Inn. This one receives the perfect amount of dappled sunlight.

Dianthus

Large mats of fragrant Dianthus are easy to grow. We have been meaning to divide these for years now.

Peonies

Several raised gardens in the foreground with our “S” garden in the background. Peonies starting to pop.

Peony "Jules"

Peony “Jules Elie” with its extra large pink flowers.

Cherub Garden

Eye-popping blue Amsonia planted alongside the brilliant yellow flowers of Coreopsis line the pathway leading through a rose arbor and down to the cherub water fountain.

Digitalis (Foxglove)

Tall spikes of Digitalis grace numerous spots in the gardens, here they attract hummingbirds and bees to our vegetable patch.

Yes, we are excited! We picked our first dahlia bloom on June 1st! Remember those tubers that we potted up back in March? Well, some of the potted tubers have grown stems to over 2+ feet laden with buds,  and they were begging to get out of their pots! Being mindful of a possible frost we waited until May 22 before digging them into the ground. We have 125 plants in the dahlia garden to date with approx. 175 yet to be planted.

Dahlia "Prom Queen"

A Peek At What’s Bloomin’

Epimedium - "Bishop's Hat" Blossoms

We love Epimedium’s heart shaped leaves with delicate pink and white flowers. Large patches grace numerous shaded garden spots. This one sits at the base of an old and very large Ash tree that shades the plant almost entirely from the sun.

Bergenia - "Pigsqueak"

A small mass of Bergenia receives a good dose of mid-morning sun and remains shaded for the rest of the day. This plant has been moved countless times over the years before finding its happy place here among a Hosta patch.

Euphorbia - "Spurge"

Color, color, color! Fluorescent Euphorbia is a real eye opener and loves full sun.

Trollious "Globle Flower"

It is said that Trollious may re-bloom if you remove faded flowers promptly and cut back foliage to the ground in the summer. We have yet to have such luck with this magnificent spring bloomer twice in a season, but that’s okay.

Dicentra "Bleeding Heart"

Flower cuttings from our old fashioned Bleeding Heart mixed with striking variegated Hosta leaves fill vases and grace all the accommodations at our bed and breakfast.

Anemone "Windflower"

The bright welcoming faces of Anemone cultivar “Macrantha” spreads quickly and on occasion will re-bloom later in the season. Be sure to dead head in a timely fashion to control its abundant self seeding nature.

What’s bloomin’ in your garden???

Spring has arrived in Maine and warmer than average temps. have brought us early blossoms!

Japanese Red Maple

Tiny leaves on many trees are beginning to appear.

Cinnamon Fern

Delicate fern heads are emerging and soon will leaf out into graceful fronds.

Magnolia Bud

The fragrantly sweet scent of our  Magnolia tree’s flowers fill the air.

Magnolia Blossom

Pasque flowers are a spring time favorite of which there are many deep rich colors. The urn-shaped flower sits above feathery bracts of delicate spiny greenery and follows up with a most unusual seed head that adds intrigue to the garden. Unfortunately our “Blue Bell” which has dark violet flowers did not survive this past winter, however our wine and white colored varieties are flourishing.

Pulsatilla (Pasque Flower)

White Pasque Flower

Shade-loving Pulmonaria brightens up a dark spot in the garden with its blue and pink flowers and continues to add interest after it blooms with handsome white speckled foliage.

Pulmonaria (Lungwart)

Large bright pink patches of creeping Phlox are spilling over the edges of numerous rock walls and best of all they will re-bloom later in the season.

Phlox (Creeping)

We have two varieties of Primula (Primrose) that we grow in a shady spot in the Rhododendron garden. A carpet of Primula “Alba” blooms first and has bright white pompoms that is quite impressive en masse.

Primula (Alba)

Arabis (Rock Cress)

Pillowy mounds of Arabis grace precious garden spaces. Here it is happy sitting atop one of our stone walls.

Warmer than usual temp. this Spring had us uncovering our garlic patch here in Mid-Coast Maine approx. 2-3 weeks earlier than usual.

A Heavy Mulch Of Straw And Leaves

It seems like it was only last month when we planted our garlic cloves and shared with you our planting techniques this past November.

Carefully Uncovering The Patch

We remove the mulch bedding with care. Tender growth can easily “snap off “.

Tender Growth

A layer of straw if left on the ground to control weeds.

Leaving A Bedding Of Straw

One week later with warm temps. and lots of sun our garlic has greened up.

1 Week Later