First They Sleep...

Fall is settling into the gardens of Camp MoneyPit and it is welcome.  As for many gardeners the Summer of 2010 was a frustrating one...starting with early warm weather that forced everyone up and out...

 then drowning rains which the hydrangeas seemed to  like a lot...

 

Then came the blazing heat  burning the edges and frying the roots ...and everything called it quits!...but for the climbing hydrangeas THIS was their year!

 With lots of stone walls to latch onto and climb upon Camp MP is the perfect spot for Climbing Hydrangeas...and apparently they love it here!  I have planted them along stone walls, up the corners and sides of the house, up the driveway fence...and the old adage about Climbing Hydrangeas is true--First year they sleep, next year they creep...third year they leap!!!

In a Child's Garden

All the names I know from nurse:

Gardener's garters, Shepherd's purse,

Bachelor's buttons, Lady's smock,

And the Lady Hollyhock.  Fairy places, fairy things,

Fairy woods where the wild bee wings,

Tiny trees for tiny dames--

These must all be fairy names!  Tiny woods below whose boughs

Shady fairies weave a house;

Tiny tree-tops, rose or thyme,

Where the braver fairies climb!  Fair are grown-up people's trees,

But the fairest woods are these;

Where, if I were not so tall,

I should live for good and all.

Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child's Garden of Verses

In so many ways all gardens are a miracle and a gift...but the gardens of Maine never cease to astonish me.  To survive the crazy often cruel New England coastal winters only to slowly burst forth a lot later than most gardens do, the gardens of the Maine Coast in Summer are a wonder!  Wherever you look the colors pour from beds and boxes and planters, happy as I am to spend a summer's day in Maine.

This week on a sweltering morning (it was over 100 even in Maine!) I wandered through the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in hopes of catching a sneak peek of the Gardens' newest and very anticipated addition -The Bibby and Harold Alfond Children's Garden.  The Children's Garden was set for its Grand Opening on Thursday but I was able to catch some glimpses as the many final touches were being painted,planted and primped.  The two acre garden is breathtaking, a joy for every age! For someone who adores both magical gardens and storybooks I quickly found myself climbing over the construction tape to get a closer look!

The Children's  Fardens are a celebration of discovery and every inch reveals a new adventure, places to play,explore and learn about the wonders of nature. There is a Tree House to climb, a 28ft tall Windmill complete with weather instruments,a spouting whale fountain, a crooked house, a boat to board and lobster traps to toss on the Blueberry Ponds, an archway made of garden tools and giant watering cans that lead to the Learning Garden where veggies grow, a Maze to conquer,and a Storybook Keeper's Cottage and Story Barn complete with a Giant Storyteller's Chair where imagination lives and reads!!

 In fact, the themes for the garden center on the story telling of Maine's famous children's authors. There is the Lupine Meadow where a topiary version of Barbara Cooney's Miss Rumphius and her cat can be found.

 The Blueberry Pond and  Islands bring memories of Robert McCloskey's Blueberries for Sal and Sal's Bear friend lives there welcoming visitors to climb on his back

Sal's Bear has become the "mascot" for the gardens and the docks on the Blueberry Ponds feature Burt Dow, Deep Water Man's boat to jump into. In celebration of the opening of the Children's Gardens the Visitor's Center of the CMBG has a  special exhibit of Robert McCloskey's drawings, storyboards and notes from a number of his books. Not to be missed!!

I cannot wait to return and watch these very special gardens grow!  For more information on the Maine Botanical Gardens and the Bibby and Harold Alfond Children's Garden along with the special events and programs available  visit Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and for a great Behind the Scenes look at the planning and construction of this enchanting spot be sure to read Dig It! The Garden's Blog.

...If you have never read some of the stories that are celebrated in the Children's Garden, or if you are like me and love to revisit them..here are some to treasure...

She started a little garden among the rocks that surrounded her house, and she planted a few flower seeds in the stony ground. Miss Rumphius was ‘almost’ perfectly happy. “But there is still one more thing I have to do,” she said. “I have to make the world more beautiful...“All that summer Miss Rumphius, her pockets full of seeds, wandered over fields and headlands, sowing lupine seeds. She scattered seeds along the highways and down the country lanes. She flung handfuls of them around the schoolhouse and the back of the church. She tossed them into hollows and along stone walls…The next spring there were lupines everywhere. Fields and hillsides were covered with blue and purple and rose-colored flowers. They bloomed along the highways and down the lanes. Bright patches lay around the schoolhouse and back of the church. Down in the hollows and along the stone walls grew beautiful flowers. Miss Rumphius had done the third most difficult thing of all![She had made the world the world more beautiful.]

Miss Rumphius-Barbara Cooney

The Gardens of Camp MP Bid Summer 2009 Adieu

Yes, fall is coming and the frostbite pansies and kale are settling in but some folks in the Gardens of Camp MP are not quite ready to give way to the falling leaves and frosty days--one last splash before bedtime!

Happy Happy Hydrangeas! The Gift the Rains Left

If I could only plant one thing in my gardens it would be hydrangeas, hydrangeas, hydrangeas, and more hydrangeas!

When I first started to plan the gardens at Camp Moneypit I knew for sure that every bed and spot would have hydrangeas at the center. I planted countless plants in all varieties, I even rescued some from the trash bin and popped them into the ground. There are hydrangeas that started life as houseplants, centerpieces, baby roots and even hydrangeas that were bought as sources of comfort after losses in my life. Almost all have made it through New England winters and gone on to thrive...but in my wildest imagination I could never envision a season like this...hydrangeas everywhere! HUGE mounds and mounds of color.

If you are starting your gardens or just want to add on play with hydrangeas. I love all kinds-lacecap to Pee Gee Trees but I would suggest starting with Endless Summer This is a relatively new variety that will in fact bloom from spring to frost-I have had hydrangeas as late as Thanksgiving from my Endless Summer. There is no real trick to growing any variety. Hydrangeas love moist cool spots but they will tolerate direct sun---just be sure to give the lots to drink in their first year, once established they do just fine in the sun. Color is determined by acidity in the soil but they always surprise me with the shades they form. Even the plants that were once white can change their tune the next season. Whatever their mood hydrangeas will improve yours---

Quite simply hydrangeas are Happy!

A Baby in Bloom-Spring Awakens at Camp MP

While sitting at my favorite salon having my haircut this week I thought to myself that I am not the only one due for pampering and a fresh snip.

Just as my hair has been stuffed beneath hats and scarves for the past 4 months, the Gardens of Camp Money Pit have been buried beneath piles of snow and ice and sand--it's time for a new season.

Under a milk sky the temperature today reached close to 90 degrees! A welcome piece of joy. It is still April after all, but with a winter of ice and snow and shovels and sand and boots finally gone, I threw open the doors and windows, flicked on the ceiling fans and listened to the birds chirp through the skylights...time to wake up the garden!

This was the first opportunity to do a real assessment of Winter 2009's treatment of the gardens. I walked, clippers in hand, through each bed and patch and was amazed as I always am in April how resilient and magical a garden can be. True there is plenty of winter burn, and I am afraid the mountain laurels and boxwood topiary may not kick back in, but everyone else-AOK!

First up the Hydrangeas...I have too many to count,but that won't stop me for planting more this year. Each has sprung to life and is ready to strut their stuff. I am especially proud of my climbing hydrangeas. There is an adage that the is so true when planting climbing hydrangea--The first year they sleep, next year they creep, the third year they leap!

I leave my hydrangeas more or less as is in the fall- I love the dried blooms against the snow. Come spring I cut back to the new growth. On the Endless Summer hydrangeas, which grow repeatedly on old wood, I still cut away to shape and give strength. My hydrangeas are the anchor to my gardens and my summer.

Next the Lavender patches. How is it possible that after months and months of being "buried alive" that lavender can still have a fragrance? I gave each patch a good haircut to allow the new growth to thrive but I found so much had started without me. Many spots are well on their way-no waiting for me to get around to tend them. I cannot wait to plant more! I just learned of a new variety called White Ice that I will start in containers from seeds from Renee's Gardens.

If you are visiting Cape Cod this year be sure to stop at Cape Cod Lavender Farm for a bit of Provence New England style.

Another treat is the discovery that the roses that line the driveway and the back courtyards made it through their first New England winter and are growing strong.

The great joy of the gardens of Camp MP this spring though is a real surprise. Last year I discovered that next to an old and graceful cherry tree there was a "sprout".

A "baby" tree that had rooted off of its Mom but clearly was struggling. Carefully it was dug free and planted out by the garage at the end of the drive. lots of TLC but not many high hopes for it. Well look at her now! I never expected to find her alive let alone in bloom-

made my week and my spring! and look at her proud Mum who clearly has gained strength and stands as a tribute all good Moms who send their sprouts off to thrive in the cold world.