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"

Sunrise On The Maine Coast

Sunrises are beautiful and so is the Maine Coast. Combine the two and you have the ingredients for a memorable stay. Fall is a beautiful time of year to take advantage of a quieter time in addition to our Bed and Breakfast’s Fall Special Stay 2 Nights And Receive A Third Night Free.  All of our oceanfront accommodations are private, offer exceptional water views, tastefully decorated and comfortable.

Wake up to ocean waves gently lapping at the shore, enjoy our fresh home-baked breakfast, explore the Camden area with its quaint shops and beautiful harbors, take a sail on a schooner and then dine at one of the many noted chef owned and operated restaurants. Or just relax and enjoy the beauty and serenity that surrounds you.

Beautiful Waterviews Along Our Shore

View Schooners From Your Private Oceanfront Deck

Relax on your deck and watch schooners sail by, working lobster boats a stones throw away,  porpoise frolicking offshore, with eagles and osprey soaring above.

Sunrise From Our Beach

Cedarholm Garden Bay Inn’s idyllic oceanfront location provide opportunities to view beautiful sunrises.

Sunrise At Cedarholm Garden Bay Inn

Private Oceanfront Decks

Local lobster fisherman checking his traps.

Travel Writer’s Relaxing Surprise

In the April/May 2010 issue of  Virginia Sportsman magazine, travel writer, author and photojournalist Chiles T. A. Larson writes about his cottage on the water at Cedarholm Garden Bay Inn and his windjammer sails out of Camden Maine’s picturesque harbor and beyond.

“It was the intermittent low muffled cadence of a boat’s engine that pulled us out of our deep slumber. Stepping out onto the deck of our comfortable cottage in the pre-dawn light, I could make out a string of colorful lobster buoys just a stone’s throw away, bobbing gently on the incoming tide. Moving slowly but resolutely, bee-like from pot to pot, was a small craft with a lone lobsterman checking the day’s offerings. This not unpleasant low drone served as our wake-up call for each of the three mornings during our stay at Cedarholm Garden Bay Inn. The sweeping views out over Penobscot Bay from our cottage were matched by an impressive display of perennial flower borders scattered with care all around this Eden-like landscape.”

“Because we were not acquainted with the Inn prior to our arrival, this early stop turned out for my wife and me to be a relaxing surprise, as we reacquainted ourselves with the many scenic, cultural, and recreational facets of our Down East vacation.”

Read the full story about his stay and view his stunning photography of the windjammers sailing along the dramatic Maine coastline.

The Windjammers Of Maine

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???

Red Beetle Alert!

This spring, with warmer than usual temps., brings early evidence of destructive and nasty garden pests. Would you believe I detected Lily Leaf Beetles already feasting on our treasured hybrid lilies in March! These beetles over winter in the soil and rear their ugly heads in the spring. Hurry up, they work quickly. The female lays her eggs(and she is quite prolific) on the underside of the lily leaves and that is how an infestation of ravenous larvae can go undetected. You must eradicate them before they annihilate your precious lilies.

Lily Leaf Beetle

Lily

We spray with a botanical insecticide as soon as the lilies pop up from the ground in addition to snatching the beetles off of the greenery and crushing them whenever one is detected.

Lily

Here the yellow arrow indicates a hole in a lily leaf where the red beetle has been feeding. This is nothing compared to what will happen if left untreated.

Lily

2 Lily Leaf Beetles at work.

Lily

If you grow just a few hybrid lilies you may hand pick the beetles regularly but be sure to check under ALL the lily leaves DAILY and remove any eggs you find by cutting the leaf and destroying the eggs. For photos of Lily Leaf Beetle eggs and larvae you may find them on one of our previous blogs.

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.