Maine ❤️ Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens
Botanical Gardens are always an island of beauty and peace wherever one travels to. I was so looking forward to visiting this one in Boothbay as I wanted to see Artist Thomas Dambo’s 5 Trolls that reside here. One could create a travel itinerary folowing his creations all over the world.
Danish artist Thomas Dambo is known for using recycled wood to create large, ambitious sculptures. After constructing 99 wooden trolls across Denmark, Belgium, Germany, the USA, Puerto Rico and South Korea, he's just added a 100th to the series. But it's in a mystery location, but I think I know the location 😉
“Guardians Of The Seeds,
Somewhere between the mountains and the rocky coast lies a forest pristine green, forgotten by most. Deep in this forest is a secret place with 10 golden seeds at the end of a maze.
They were hidden by five giant forest trolls protecting each part of the forest so old. It was told that the trolls spoke the tongue of the trees and had sworn to protect them from war and disease.
Burke had roots, Roskva was wide as the trunks, Gro was like the leaves, breathing life with her lungs. Siren, like branches, would wave in the wind, and Lilja, like the flowers, each year would spring.
The forest was ancient, had stood for millions of years, but recently the trolls had seen just what they had feared. Little people came plenty, across and over the seas, to cut, fell, and break down tree after tree after tree.
So, in fear of a day when all the trees would be gone, they collected every seed forever and on - chestnut, cherry, elm, spruce, and hazel, oak, ash, beech, birch, and, last, a little maple.
The five trolls then held around all of the seeds and harder and harder they started to squeeze - so hard that stars started flashing and shaking, so hard the ground started rumbling and quaking.
Then ten golden seeds appeared in a haze. The trolls took them and hid them at the end of a maze, where in secret and safe all the trees could grow tall, Because a future without trees is no future at all.
So, the question is now, do you want to help? Because a secret is lost if kept to itself. Please run, find the seeds, and hold them in your heart, and if everything gets lost, you know where to start.”
I arrived at the Gardens at 9 am and hit the ground running. Since there are almost 300 acres to explore, plus me wanting to avoid the humidity and heat I came prepared. I would have finished up by 11:30 but to my joy there was a guided, interactive tour about environmental changes and how we can help make a change. It was wonderful and it highlighted how we all be a part of the solution.
I always hope my photos and our travels will actually motivate or inspire others to go out there. Find a love, it might be mountains, trees, plants, flowers, water, animals.… every part in nature needs our help. In our group a book about Moss was mentioned ‘Gathering Moss’ by Robin Wall Kimmerer and I loved hearing how much impact this book had on several people in our group. So yes, even moss needs our help as it is very fragile and gets impacted first when change is happening.
Of course when it comes to more detailed information about a place I point towards Wikipedia. Which reminds me I mentioned how I like connecting with visitor centers, local FB groups as well as Chamber of Commerce, Museums when we get to new locations? However I admit Wikipedia has often given me a heads up as well and another great resource when in a small town is the newspaper. They know of almost anything that is happening. But here are some stats on the Gardens.
The gardens have been named one of Maine's top attractions. Its gardens and landscape include nearly a mile of tidewater shoreline.
After 16 years of planning, planting, and building, the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens opened on June 13, 2007. This project began in 1991 when a group of Maine residents founded the grassroots organization. In 1996, after a thorough search for an appropriate site, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens purchased 128 acres (52 ha) of land with 3,600 feet (1,100 m) of tidal shore frontage in Boothbay.
Today, as the largest botanical garden in New England, the gardens comprise 295 acres (119 ha), 17 of which are gardens featuring native plants of Maine and other plants suited to northern coastal conditions. Yearly, the gardens see on average 200,000 guests from throughout the United States and (in 2018) 63 foreign countries.[2]
In February 2017, the Gardens were warned of violations found the previous month at the site during a $30-million expansion — plans for which were made public in April 2016.[1] In July 2017, the State of Maine issued a formal Notice of Violation of four federal environmental laws: the Natural Resources Protection Act, the Erosion and Sedimentation Control Law, the Protection and Improvement of Waters Act and the Site Location of Development Act.[15] On at least four occasions, a third-party inspector witnessed "instances of unclean water in protected wetlands and significant vernal pools", as well as "inadequate steps being taken to prevent erosion; and the unlicensed construction of a 'plunge pool' in a freshwater wetland area".[15]
By the end of June 2017, erosion-control measures were in place, and a restoration plan for a wetland area was in progress.[15]
My take is it was definitely worth it to spend a day here. Go find the trolls and the hidden seeds, enjoy each garden section, and there are many as in 12, plus 11 hiking trail options. The cafe is under construction but a food cart it set up for light lunches ❤️
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