OTHER PUBLIC GARDENS WORTH A VISIT

Asticou Azalea Garden, Northeast Harbor

Thuya Garden, Northeast Harbor

Wild Gardens of Acadia, Bar Harbor

Merryspring, Camden

Vesper Hill Children’s Chapel, Rockport

Viles Arboretum, Augusta

Sunken Garden, Wiscasset

The Rose Circle, Portland

The Longfellow Garden, Portland

Longfellow Arboretum, Portland

houses in the nearby woods. There are miles of trails to walk among the gardens and shuttles are also available to help you get around more quickly. There’s even a dock where you can take a one-hour boat tour.

Although they are carefully cultivated, all the various gardens look a bit wild, as if they had simply occurred in nature—that’s intentional. You can wander between the Woodland Garden, the Perennial and Rose Garden, the Burpee Kitchen Garden, the Clever Event Lawn, the Great Lawn, and the Lerner Garden of the Five Senses. Early winter offers “Gardens Aglow,” when the gardens are decked out in holiday lighting and visitors stroll in the evening dark oohing and aahing.

Other than the Gardens Aglow event, the Gardens are open April 15 through October 31, daily 9 to 5.

HELPFUL SITES

• mainegardens.org

• gardenpreserve.org/asticou-azalea-garden/

• gardenpreserve.org/thuya-garden

• merryspring.org/gardens-grounds/gardens/

• mainehistory.org/house_overview.shtm l#gardenvilesarboretum.org/