Maine Garden Tours blossom statewide

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Maine Garden tours take place from June into Septeber every year. ©Tom Nangle
Don’t miss the opportunity to enjoy one or more Maine Garden tours. Guided and self-guided tours give a peek behind the gate of some of Maine’s best private and public gardens. ©Tom Nangle

Take time to smell the flowers during annual garden tours throughout Maine. While most tours occur on only one day each summer, a few are spread out over the season. Hint: Buy tickets in advance, when possible, as they usually are less expensive (but do note that tours are usually rain or shine, so you take your chances on the weather).

Updating for 2024 is in progress. Updated March 17, 2024

2024 Maine Garden Tours

McLaughlin Garden Annual Lilac Festival

What: View more than 125 different varieties and more than 200 lilacs. Tour on your own or join the 11 am Lilac Care Guided Tour led by horticulturist. See site for other festival activities.

When: May 24; 10am-4pm

Cost: $10 pp donation suggested

2024 Woodfords Community Garden Tour

Woodford's Corner Maine Garden Tour 2024 poster
Check out the gardens in Woodford’s Corner.

What: Tour more than 10 gardens on a self-guided tour of 10+ gardens throughout the Woodfords Corner Community: Back Cove, Deering Highlands, Oakdale, and Deering Center.

When: June 8, 2024; 1-4pm (June 9 rain date)

Cost: $20 donation is suggested, but pay what you can.

Peony Society of Maine Garden Tour

What: details to come.

When: June 15, 20, 21, 22; 9am-3pm

Cost: donation appreciated; benefits Peony Society efforts to educate and propagate.

Celia Thaxter’s Garden Tours on Appledore Island

What: Walking tour of the restored garden of 19th-century poet and writer Celia Thaxter, author of An Island Garden.

When: Fridays June 28, July 5,12, 19, and Aug. 2; Saturdays July 6, 13, 20, 27, and Aug. 3

Cost: $125, includes parking, round-trip transportation from New Castle, N.H., guided tour, and buffet lunch.

What else: Participants access the island via a 45-minute cruise aboard a research vessel and, once on the island, walk 2-3 miles over rugged terrain. Reservations must be made at least 2 weeks in advance, and each tour is limited to 33 participants. Reservations open March 25.

Open Days at Garland Farm, Bar Harbor

What: Garland Farm, the ancestral home of Lewis Garland, property manager for landscape architect Beatrix Farrand’s famed Reef Point property, and Farrand’s home and gardens. Farrand moved here after dismantling Reef Point in 1955, and worked with architect Robert Patterson to design the addition where she lived, utilizing some of the architectural pieces and furnishings she saved. The house, library, and garden are open to visitors for guided house and self-guided garden tours as follows.

When: Thursdays, noon-3pm, June 20-Sept. 19 (excluding July 4), 2024

Cost: $5 donation

Hidden Gardens of Historic Bath

What: (2023 info: 18th annual self-guided tour of gardens in Bath; musical entertainment.)

When: June 22 and 23, 2024; 10am-2pm

Cost (2023 info): $40 available online; benefits Sagadahoc Preservation, Inc.

The Garden Conservancy Open Garden Days

What: Self-guided tour of Beckett Castle Rose Garden in Cape Elizabeth. This oceanfront garden comprises more than 70 varieties of heirloom roses. A 50-foot-high stone tower entry gate doubles as a rose arbor. Sylvester Beckett built the neo-Gothic house in 1871.

When: June 29, 2024; 10am to 4pm

Cost: TBD, tickets available as of April 1

What else: Visitors should wear sturdy shoes and expect uneven terrain and unpaved paths. They must traverse an upward slope to exit the garden. The property is home to Hogfish, a nonprofit regenerative arts movement. Live music will be performed during the day.

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden Open Garden Days

Buddha seen through a moon gate at Rockefeller Garden, a Maine garden tour
The Rockefeller Garden on Mount Desert Island is one of the Maine Travel Maven’s favorite Maine garden tours. @Hilary Nangle.

What: Self-guided tour of the Walled Garden and The Eyrie Terrace, the former home site of John D. Jr. and Abby Rockefeller, Seal Harbor, on Mount Desert Island. (Note: This is one of my favorite Maine garden tours)

When: July 9-Sept. 8, 2024; noon-4pm Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday for public; reservations open May 20. Members can schedule visits noon-4pm Friday and Sunday; member reservations open May 6). 

Cost (2023): $15 adult, $10 ages 65 and older, free kids 12 and younger; reservations open May 20 for nonmembers, May 6 for members.

What else: Membership in the Land and Garden Preserve has benefits that are worth checking out; rates begin at $50 ($25 ages 65+ full-time students, year-round MDI residents, and active military). Check out the perks, such as free or very discounted passes) and consider joining for early access to reservations, even if you’re only going to be visiting for a short period.

Wiscasset Homes on Tour

What: Private homes in Wiscasset village, Alna, Dresden, Edgecomb, and Woolwich.

When: July 13, 2024, 11am-4pm

Cost: $30 + processing fee. Available online in advance or on the day of the tour.

Camden House and Garden Tour

Photo depicts an oceanside garden that's part of the 2024 Camden Garden Club tour.
This oceanside garden that’s part of the 2024 Camden Garden Club tour.

What: 75th annual tour presented by the Camden Garden Club. Tour six private gardens with a variety of landscaping, planting styles, and architectural structures and an emphasis on sustainability and native plants.

When: July 18, 2024, 9:30am-4pm.

Cost: $TBD, tickets available online May 1

What else (2023 info): Tickets include access to the month-long retrospective Garden Tour exhibit at the Camden Public Library, immersive gardenside performances by local musicians, local confectionary treats, flower arranging demonstrations, and the chance to win a painting done en plein air throughout the day by Maine artist Alexandra Perry-Weiss.

Garden Club of Mount Desert Open Garden Day

Photo depicting an oceanside garden.
Tour six gardens in Seal Harbor on the Garden Club Mount Desert’s biannual Open Garden Day.

What: Tour six gorgeous gardens in Seal Harbor

When: Saturday, July 27, 10am-4pm

Cost: TBD, tickets available May 1

What else: benefits nonprofit organizations promoting horticulture and/or conservation projects.

2023 Maine Garden Tours

Belfast Open Garden Days

What: One garden in greater Belfast is open on Saturdays.

When: 10am-4pm Saturdays, dates to come

Cost: $5 suggested donation per garden or season ticket for $35; a check or exact change is appreciated. Proceeds benefit maintenance of 12 local public gardens and scholarships for Waldo County students studying horticulture and related subjects.

What else: No restrooms at gardens. No dogs. Photography allowed only with permission.

Bar Harbor Garden Club Tour: Gardens by the Sea

What: Visit six gardens

When: Held on odd-numbered years; next tour 2025

Cost: $40 in advance (available in June); $45 day of tour; benefits island nonprofits protecting natural resources, addressing food insecurity, and fostering dedication to horticulture among youth.

What else: Free parking and shuttle service.

Cape Elizabeth Maine Garden Tour posterCape Elizabeth Garden Tour

What: Self-guided tour viewing eighty gardens with ocean views, backyard wildlife habitats, native plants, woodlands, stonework, etc.

When: July 15, 9am-4pm

Cost: $30, available online; benefits Friends of Fort Williams Park.


Other possibilities

Castine House and Garden Tour

What: Tour homes and gardens in the village.

When: held every two to three years

Cost: $XX; benefits Castine Historical society.

Secret Gardens of Kennebunkport

What: Tour six private gardens in Kennebunkport including an abandoned granite quarry, a historic riverfront home, a wooded wonderland, and yards with sweeping ocean and harbor views.

When: ???; 10am-3pm

Cost: $to come/advance; benefits Graves Memorial Public Library.

What else: Details to be confirmed: Kennebunkport Conservation Trust annual plant sale at 57 Gravelly Brook Road: perfect for shopping, grabbing lunch from Beach Dawgs and dessert from Gemini Cakes. Tourgoers are encouraged to avoid the parking crush by visiting the gardens on the trolley that will be looping past the stops to drop off and pick up visitors.

 

Maine garden tours take place in cities and towns
Discover secret gardens on Portland’s Munjoy Hill.

Hidden Gardens of Munjoy Hill

What: Self-guided walking tour of select private gardens on Munjoy Hill; begins at Fort Allen Park on Portland’s Eastern Promenade

When:

Cost: benefits Friends of the Eastern Promenade

Friends of the Rockland Public Library Open Gardens

What: Self-guided tour of gardens in the Rockland area. Ten participating gardens, each with its own schedule.

When: 

Cost: Donation jar at each participating garden. NOTE: Please wear a mask when visiting gardens. Donations benefit Friends of the Rockland Public Library initiatives.

Cost: $5 donation recommended

Boothbay Region in Full Bloom 

What: 

When: Postponed to 2025 due to storm damage

Cost: $35 in advance, $40 day of tour; benefits scholarships for advanced education in ecology, marine biology, horticulture, botany, and earth sciences as well as YMCA Camperships for local children.

*****

Gardens Aglow

What: Holiday light extravaganza at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

When: mid-November to late-December.

Cost: XX adult, XX ages 3-17, $XX age 65+, $XX family including 2 adults and 2 children; for specific date and time. Also available are premium flex tickets, valid whenever garden is open: $XX adult, $XX child, $XX senior, $XX family.

What else: It’s truly worth planning a visit around this annual event, which coincides with Boothbay Lights.

*****

Past tours (I check in regularly to see if resuming)

Raymond Garden Tour

What: Self-guided tour of seven local gardens

When:

Cost: benefits Raymond Village Library

Salt & See Art & Garden Trail

What: 

When: 

Cost: Free, donations encouraged to benefit Old South Meeting House. Pick up maps at Bernard Langlais Preserve or Cushing Historical Society.

Open Doors of York House & Garden Tour

What: Old York Historical Society’s tour visits private homes and gardens in York.

When:

Cost: $??/advance, $??/day of tour; benefits Old York Historical Society

 

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