Camden (Maine) Garden Tour 2014: Part 4
Nursery News: 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.
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The newly built Arts and Crafts style house at the final garden on the tour is reached via a long drive ending in an elaborate stone bridge and pond.
This post is the fourth in a series of posts on the Camden House and Garden Tour put on annually in mid-July by the Camden Garden Club. To read the first three posts, click here, here, and here. Next year’s tour is on July 16, 2015, and will consist of historic houses in Camden.
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The entrance walk crosses a large stone slab that acts as a bridge over a boulder strewn stream.
The final garden that I am profiling surrounds a new over-the-top Arts and Crafts style house built half way up Mt. Battie overlooking Camden Harbor. We were transported up a steep drive to the property in chauffeur-driven golf carts, passing through extensive plantings surrounding large boulders. At the top, a beautiful stone bridge brings visitors to the impressive front entrance. I will let the photos and captions tell the rest of the story:
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The entrance path
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An elegant planter on the entrance walk.
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A man made stream runs along the front of the house under the entrance path.
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The stream ends in this pool. Behind it you can see the stone bridge and above that the guest house.
Although we were not allowed to take photos inside the house, I did take some shots from the master bedroom balcony:
Hillside perennial garden with native woods in the background.
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Looking down from the balcony onto the pool area.
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View of Camden Harbor from the master bedroom.
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Stone path leading around to the back of the house.
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The tour brochure states that “the garden encompasses more than 5,000 trees and plants”, and every one of them was perfect, no brown leaves, no spent flowers, no unhappy plants.
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Looking up from the lawn area to the perennial gardens on the back side of the house.
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Everything about this property was massive, including the stairs from the lawn to the back terrace.
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Another gorgeous view from the back terrace.
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A plant that caught my eye ‘Fan Scarlet’ lobelia.
Just like everything else, the pool was over the top so I thought you would like to see a few shots:
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Granite boulders were incorporated into the design.
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In the last post in this series, I intend (if I have enough good photos) to show you some of the non-garden sights in the Camden-Rockport area and recommend a few wonderful restaurants.
Carolyn
Nursery Happenings: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is closed for the summer and will reopen in early September. If you are within visiting distance of the nursery 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.
Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a local retail nursery in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S., zone 7a. The only plants that we mail order are snowdrops and miniature hostas and only within the US.
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.
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CAROLYN'S SHADE GARDENS 
August 13, 2014 at 6:18 pm
Wow, wow and wow Carolyn. The drive with the bridge and pond…then the entrance over the stream…those views of the gardens and woods and finally that pool. A dream home for me as I love Arts and Crafts homes.
August 13, 2014 at 8:19 pm
Donna, Too big and too manicured for me. I do love the Arts and Crafts style but this was a little much. I would be very happy in the guest house though. I found myself wondering what the undisturbed woods must have looked like before the house was built and thinking how much prettier it probably was. Carolyn
August 13, 2014 at 7:22 pm
(You worked it out!) I like the paths, the pool and the stairs. Nice!
August 13, 2014 at 8:17 pm
Donna, I don’t know what is going on with WordPress. Nothing worked right and eventually I clicked something and the whole post disappeared. Luckily I could still get it on my iPad with all the original options and so I clicked publish and retrieved it. Carolyn
August 13, 2014 at 8:33 pm
I have had posts disappear too, but all I did was hit save again and it returned. Did you look in the drop down under Writing Helper? The arrow to the right is the drop down. I thought maybe you did when I talked with you.
August 14, 2014 at 7:41 pm
Donna, I just panicked and went to my iPad. On the new abbreviated format there is no save, just publish or preview. The old format was on mu iPad, weird. Carolyn
August 14, 2014 at 10:46 am
What did you think of the man-made stream, Carolyn? Did it feel natural or contrived? From your photo, it seems well executed & natural…and perhaps time will add more to give that sense. Did the entry walk cross the stream with a large stone or a constructed bridge? Did the stream funnel into a culvert or did it remain as wide as in the photo?
August 14, 2014 at 7:46 pm
Eric, the whole place seemed contrived to me, but maybe it will seem more natural with time. The entry walk crossed the stream with a large rock. That photo seem to have disappeared, and I will try to put it back in. The stream went to the small pond and then maybe recirculated, I am not sure. Carolyn
August 14, 2014 at 11:16 am
Carolyn, Do you know what the reddish orange trumpet like plant is that is in the lovely planter in this post?
August 14, 2014 at 7:43 pm
Debbie, I am not sure what that plant is, maybe some kind of fuchsia? Carolyn
August 14, 2014 at 7:54 pm
I could spend a few days there…. Not too shabby! The pool is completely amazing and the stonework really sets off and adds to the house.
I can imagine the steps out back settling in and aging with grass in the cracks and all kinds of summer wildflowers creeping in… The brand new manicured look is nice, but I like something summertime cozy and lived in.
August 17, 2014 at 10:36 am
Frank, You would have your choice of the three room guest suite taking up one whole end of the house or the lovely guest house which is the size of a normal house. Then you could frequent the sauna, steam room, massage area, two exercise rooms, the movie theater, and the music room, among others. I would be spending a lot of time in the infinity pool with the spectacular view. Carolyn
August 14, 2014 at 9:56 pm
Oh wow–now that’s the kind of garden I want when I grow up. 😉 Seriously, everything is … perfect … without being too perfect!
August 17, 2014 at 10:33 am
Beth, I think it would all be too much to maintain even if you can afford to hire people to take care of it. Carolyn
August 21, 2014 at 12:50 pm
Simply sensational Carolyn, and I see you got a shot of the Queen looking over the pool area.
August 24, 2014 at 7:56 pm
Very funny Alistair, I guess it must be the hat. Sorry, I haven’t been around much. Exhausted after my season and just relaxing without computers. Carolyn
August 26, 2014 at 2:45 pm
Wow, what a view! But I do prefer the house and garden in part 3.
August 26, 2014 at 9:44 pm
Denise, I agree, there is something sterile about all that money thrown at that one site. Carolyn