Maine in Early Fall
Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade. The only plants that we ship are snowdrops and miniature hostas. For catalogues and announcements of events, please send your full name, location, and phone number (for back up use only) to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com. Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.
These photos look so much more beautiful on my iPad than on my lower resolution laptop that I hope you can all view them on a device with high screen resolution.
This blog post is dedicated to the 139 people who have voted for Carolyn’s Shade Gardens so far. Thank you so much.
Before I get to the rest of the photos, I am asking for your help. My husband and I are making long range plans to ensure the sustainability of Carolyn’s Shade Gardens into its third decade. As we get older and are less able to do hard physical labor, we need employees to help us with the core business and we need to expand into less labor intensive operations. To enable this to happen, we have applied for a Mission Main Street Grant. The application process requires that we get 250 votes from our customers. We need you to vote for us as described below.
Votes are being authenticated through Facebook Connect so to vote you must be a Facebook user and you must log into your Facebook account. You will receive an automatic message generated by Facebook stating that the grantor will receive your public profile and friends list. This is for the purpose of vote authentication only, they will not store or share your information as it says below the Vote Now button. To vote for Carolyn’s Shade Gardens, click here and click the Vote Now button. Whether you are a local customer, someone who has ordered snowdrops or miniature hostas mail order, a Facebook follower, or one of my far flung blog readers, I hope that you will think that it is worthwhile supporting our sustainability efforts and vote now.
[As of Sunday, October 27, at 4:30 pm, we have 139 votes and really need 111 more!]
Now for more photos of the beautiful coast of Maine:
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I have gotten so much positive feedback from my customers saying that they loved my blog posts from Maine. However, looking back I realized that all my Maine posts this summer were about cultivated plants and gardens. Although the gardens are gorgeous, the most beautiful parts of Maine, and the reason you should visit Maine, are the wild areas. This post contains photos of the Maine coast taken in mid-September, the nicest time to visit the state (I should work for the tourist bureau!). If readers want more, I can do a subsequent post with photos from mid-October.
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I thought I would also use this post to show the results, one year later, of the changes that I made to my family’s garden in Maine as described in my July 2012 post Landscape Problem Solved. In that post, I explained how I removed an unwanted perennial garden and replaced it with native smooth hydrangeas, H. arborescens, in pink and white. Here are the results one year later:
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The white-flowered cultivar is ‘Incrediball’ and the pink one is ‘Invincible Spirit’.
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Although both cultivars are beautiful, ‘Invincible Spirit’ flopped every time it rained and eventually didn’t recover, while ‘Incrediball’ stood straight on its extra sturdy stems through torrential rains. Its flowers remain upright as of today, and it has continued to produce new pure white blooms.
You constantly tell me how much you enjoy my blog, and the positive feedback is very much appreciated because the blog is a lot of work. Now I need you to help me by voting for Carolyn’s Shade Gardens today. Just clickhere and vote now.
Thanks, Carolyn
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Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S., zone 6b. The only plants that we mail order are snowdrops and miniature hostas and only within the US.
If you are within visiting distance and would like to receive catalogues and information about customer events, please send your full name and phone number to carolynsshadegardens@verizon.net. Subscribing to my blog does not sign you up to receive this information.
Nursery Happenings: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is closed for the winter. Look for the 2014 Snowdrop Catalogue in early January.
Facebook: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens has a Facebook Page where I post single photos, garden tips, and other information that doesn’t fit into a blog post. You can look at my Facebook page here or click the Like button on my right sidebar here.
Notes: Every word that appears in orange on my blog is a link that you can click for more information. If you want to return to my blog’s homepage to access the sidebar information (catalogues, previous articles, etc.) or to subscribe to my blog, just click here.
CAROLYN'S SHADE GARDENS 
October 21, 2013 at 9:50 pm
I wish you luck on being one of the 12 recipients. It is quite an interesting grant, when I clicked to vote I clicked a few of their links. Maine is very pretty at this time of year and I do remember those views. Maybe some of these images could become note cards too.
October 22, 2013 at 11:24 am
Donna, Yes, it is a very good grant. I am considering hiring two full time employees with benefits, building an office and shipping area, and importing very expensive stock from England. I could do a Maine series of cards! Carolyn
October 21, 2013 at 10:26 pm
Carolyn,
I’d love to give you my vote, but I don’t do Facebook (nor will I). Is there another way to vote?
Ben
October 22, 2013 at 11:22 am
Ben, That’s all right, I don’t expect you to get involved with Facebook just to vote. There is no other way to vote, but I appreciate your support. Perhaps you know some Facebook users whom you could encourage to vote. Thanks, Carolyn
October 21, 2013 at 11:24 pm
Lovely!!
October 22, 2013 at 11:20 am
Glad you enjoyed it.
October 22, 2013 at 2:55 am
Hello Carolyn,
Beautiful scenery, but also that very special autumnal light. I really like the Hydrangeas – we must look out for Incrediball, and good wishes for your target of votes – how sensible to be planning ahead for sustaining the garden. Much to my surprise the voting process was really easy – even from the Welsh hills!,BW
Julian
October 22, 2013 at 11:20 am
Julian, Thanks for your kind wishes. I hope your report on the ease of voting will encourage others to vote. Someone else reported problems. Carolyn
October 22, 2013 at 8:00 am
Would you say that Incrediball’s stems are significantly sturdier than the old classic “Annabelle”? Also, have you ever tried using any of the steel devices to prop up a floppy Hydrangea arborescens? I’ve seen something made of coated steel with a curved profile that’s marketed for Peonies.
October 22, 2013 at 11:18 am
Eric, Incrediball’s stems are much sturdier than Annabelle’s and don’t need any support even in very heavy rain. I don’t plant plants that require support so have not tried any devices. Carolyn
October 22, 2013 at 11:42 am
Carolyn I would vote if I could but I don’t have facebook – do all your customers? If there is another way to vote let me know. You’ve certainly sold me on a trip to Maine but I don’t know when.
October 22, 2013 at 4:47 pm
Christina, A lot of people have Facebook, but I am not sure how many of my customers use it. Apparently it is an easy way to verify votes and prevent cheating. Unfortunately there is no other way to vote or I am sure I would have 250 votes by now. As it is I am only at 49. You will love Maine and if you ever really do plan the trip from Italy please give me plenty of notice. Carolyn
October 22, 2013 at 1:04 pm
I just voted! Best of luck! BTW – those photos of Maine are gorgeous. Would love to visit there someday.
October 22, 2013 at 4:47 pm
Thanks, Paula, now I just need 201 more of you!!!! Carolyn
October 22, 2013 at 2:48 pm
Amazingly beautiful photos Carolyn. I wish you good fortune in your application. I am hoping to visit your nursery and gardens one day and I want you to be there. All the best.
October 22, 2013 at 4:49 pm
Patty, What a nice comment. I would love to have you visit and hope to be here for quite a while longer. the grant would really help though. Carolyn
October 22, 2013 at 3:01 pm
Good luck. I hope you will get the grant, Carolyn. I am sorry I can’t vote. But I don’t use Facebook.
October 22, 2013 at 4:50 pm
Denise, The limitation to Facebook users is frustrating for me because a lot of my loyal customers don’t have Facebook accounts. Let’s hope enough do though. Carolyn
October 22, 2013 at 5:09 pm
Hello Carolyn,
I would happily vote for you, except that Chase says they will share my friend list, which I don’t want. If there was any other way to vote, I would do it in a heartbeat, but I am not willing to have Chase have this info.
I really hope you get the grant.
Sarah H.
October 22, 2013 at 5:25 pm
Sarah, Actually right below the Vote Now block Chase unequivocally states that it will not “store or share” your friends list. You are probably talking about the message generated by Facebook Connect which is telling you that Chase will “receive” your friends list but that is only to authenticate you as a real Facebook user who hasn’t voted previously. I specifically clarified this with Chase and have their email to prove it. I hope you will now vote. Carolyn
October 23, 2013 at 7:13 pm
One more vote for you Carolyn, hope you get the grant! Thanks for the tour around Maine, looks like a lovely place, it actually reminds me a bit of the coast of Norway where I lived for some years before moving inland again.
I had the problem with flopping of my Annabelle for a long time until I moved it into almost complete shade. It does produce smaller flowers now, but I get many more flowers and it usually doesn’t flop in the rain.
October 24, 2013 at 9:28 am
Helene, Theoretically moving Annabelle into the shade should make it more spindly and floppy. However, I guess it is purely the weight of the flowers so if they are smaller in the shade it would help the floppiness. Thanks for the tip. Carolyn
October 24, 2013 at 8:16 am
Hi Carolyn, I just looked at the blog and voted for you. Sometimes, especially this summer, I was so busy that I didnt read the blog but stored it away for another time, knowing for sure that I would come back and read it. This morning I read the new one and of course came to the JPMorgan Chase vote. If I had not read the whole blog I would not have known about the vote. So all I am saying is can you email this information out to your list as well? It was helpful to know about public profile and friends list because I have always been hesitant to click ok when asked. Alex is here today and said you are in Maine – must be cold up there. Photos look lovely. We were in California in September and drove to the Pacific coast and it was lovely too. Steve said it reminded him of Maine – not the same but gorgeous too. See you in the Spring. Charlotte
Charlotte Lindley Martin
http://www.charlottelindleymartin.com
martinsc705@gmail.com
October 24, 2013 at 9:52 am
Charlotte, I thought I might get enough votes from my Facebook followers and blog subscribers so that I wouldn’t have to email the list. Voting has been slow but you could be right and readers are just looking at the photos and not reading the vote part. Thanks, Carolyn
October 27, 2013 at 12:36 pm
I looked at the beautiful pictures and read the part about voting, but can’t unfortunately as I don’t do Facebook. I hope you get all the votes you need because I’m sure that any project that you’re involved with will be done professionally and with integrity.
November 1, 2013 at 9:16 pm
Bag, For some reason your comment went to spam. Thank you so much for your kind words. They mean more than a vote. Carolyn
October 27, 2013 at 10:04 pm
Voted…your Maine pics are stunning and why I want to visit there one of these days.
October 28, 2013 at 8:33 am
Thanks, Donna, let me know when you are coming.
October 28, 2013 at 7:54 pm
I remember when you put in the new hydrangeas! They have grown well and are truly a lovely combination. Thanks for a look at some wild Maine scenery. It is true that sometimes one cannot improve on nature! By the way, I wish I was on facebook so I could vote for you!
October 28, 2013 at 8:17 pm
Deb, Your good wishes mean a lot even if you can’t vote. I am so happy with the results from the hydrangeas. The flowers still looked pretty in mid-October. Carolyn