Wild gardens of Acadia: Siourde,Horts garden 1961 the Reomore for The llarent Presented 1/3/06 HISTORY Mount Desert Island is unique for its beauty and for glacial accidents that left it with flora from both the cold north and the warmer south. In the early THE WILD GARDENS OF ACADIA 1900s, Charles W. Eliot and George B. Dorr recognized these special quali- ties and began to acquire land to be preserved for public enjoyment and for SEASONAL BLOOM or FRUITING "educational and scientific purposes." Dorr bought the Sieur de Monts Spring area in 1909, named it the Wild Gardens of Acadia, and in 1916 presented it to A project to display, preserve, and propagate in typical habitats the United States government as part of Lafayette National Park, which subse- While conditions vary from year to year, you may expect to find flowers or fruits in the following habitats during these periods. the native flora of Mount Desert Island quently became Acadia National Park. In 1961, Acadia's superintendent, Harold Hubler, offered a three-quarter MAY: Foamflower, Saxifrage (1); Mayflower (1, 2, 9); Violets Trilliums acre plot to grow and display wildflowers grown by participants in a propagation (1, 7, 9); Hobblebush (2, 9); Pussytoes (3); Leatherleaf (5, 11); Marsh program sponsored initially by the Bar Harbor Garden Club. Although the plot marigold (7, 12); Starflower (9); Bog Solomonplume (10); Skunk cabbage was covered with blackberry bushes and mature red maples damaged by the (11); Buckbean (12). 1947 fire, its assets included a wealth of large ferns and a winding brook fed by Sieur de Monts Spring. The Wild Gardens of Acadia committee began laying MAY/JUNE: Jack-in-the-pulpit, Anemone (1); Lady's slipper (1, 9); out paths and divided the Gardens into areas simulating natural plant communi- Solomonplume, Twisted stalk (1,7); Shad (1, 8, 9); Hawthorn (1, 2, 8); ties. The decision to include only those species indigenous to Acadia precluded Blue-eyed grass, Bluets (3); Roseroot (4, 6); Columbine (4); Cranberry planting daisy, yarrow, lupine, rugosa rose, purple loosestrife, and clover, which (4, 8, 10); Rhodora (5, 10, 11); Golden Heather, Chokeberry (5); are abundant on Mount Desert Island but not native. Bluebead lily (7, 9); Nannyberry (8); Bunchberry (8. 9); Bog rosemary Guided by Edgar T. Wherry's Wild Flowers of Mt. Desert Island, published in (10); Labrador tea, Bog laurel (10, 11); Calla (11). 1928 under the aegis of the Garden Club of Mount Desert, volunteers established more than 400 indigenous plant species. These efforts have been recognized by JUNE/JULY: Wood sorrel (1); Canada lily (1, 7); Twinflower (1, 9); Sumac awards from the Garden Club of America, the New England Wild Flower Soci- (2, 8); Dogbane, Meadow rue (3); Three-toothed cinquefoil, Sundrops ety, the Garden Club Federation of Maine, the National Council of State Garden (4); Corydalis, Lambkill (5); Beachhead iris, Beach pea, Silver and gold Clubs, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and a Certificate of Appreciation potentilla, Herb-Robert (6); Blue flag (6, 7, 12); Solomon's seal, Wood lily to the Wild Gardens of Acadia committee from the National Park Service. (7); Bluebead lily (7, 9); Partridgeberry, Pyrolas, Mountain laurel (9); Bog orchids, Pitcher plant, Haretailed cottongrass (10); Arrowhead (12). In 2010, the Wild Gardens of Acadia became an official committee of Friends of Acadia and formalized this new standing through a partnership with Friends of JULY/AUGUST: Jewelweed, Boneset (1): Purple fringed orchid, Wintergreen Acadia and Acadia National Park. The Gardens not only enhance understanding (1, 9); Flowering raspberry, Sarsaparilla (2); Asters, Goldenrods, of native plants and their habitats but also foster stewardship-ensuring that parks Meadowsweet, Steeplebush (2, 3); Blueberry (2, 5. 7, 8); Rose (3,7, and gardens continued to be sustained through volunteers and private philanthropy. 8); Fireweed, Evening primrose (3); Harebell, Mountain sandwort (4); The Gardens are maintained primarily by volunteers, and a head gardener, spon- Crowberry (5); Skullcap (6, 11); Germander, Sea lavender (6); Cardinal sored by Friends of Acadia; they plant. study, collect, propagate, label, and fund- flower (7, 8); Rattlesnake plantain, Clematis (9); Club-spur orchid (10): raise. The Park supports a student intern in summer, and docents greet visitors. Yellow loosestrife (11); Water lily, Pickerelweed (12). Beyond this support, the budget is met by grants, gifts from individuals, the Garden Club of Mount Desert and the Bar Harbor Garden Club, plant sales, and the sale of AUGUST/SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER: Baneberry (1); Hog peanut (2); Asters cards and leaflets at the Garden entrances. (2, 3); Goldenrod (2, 3, 6); Turtlehead (2, 12); Pearly everlasting, Ladies' tresses (3); Winterberry (5, 7. 8, 12); Sweet pepperbush (7, HELPFUL BOOKS 8); Bunchberry (8, 9); Witch hazel, Mountain ash (8); Potato bean (9); On Cultivation Cranberries, Tawny cottongrass (10). Birdseye, C. and E. Growing Woodland Plants Steffek, E.F. Wild Flowers and How To Grow Them On Plant Identification Audubon Society. Field Guide to North American Trees (Eastern) Femald, M.L., ed. Manual of Botany Haines, A. and T. Vining, Flora of Maine Mittelhauser, G.H., L.L. Gregory, S.C. Rooney, and J.E. Weber. The Plants of Acadia National Park At Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb's Wildflower Guide Peterson, R.T. and M. McKenny. A Field Guide to Wildflowers On Bird Identification Sieur de Monts Spring National Geographic Society. Field Guide to the Birds of North America Illustrated by Ruth Soper Peterson, R.T. A Field Guide to the Birds Printed 2010 Acadia National Park Sibley, David A. The Sibley Guide to Birds The 12 sections of the Wild Gardens of Acadia reflect typical 8 habitats found on Mount Desert Island. Plant species are The BIRD THICKET provides plants that attract birds. labeled in their most characteristic habitats. Included are cherry, elderberry, bush honeysuckle, haw- thorn, mountain ash, highbush cranberry, nannyberry, maple-leaved viburnum, sumac, rose, shad, cranberry, 1 bunchberry, blueberry, and the fall-blooming witch hazel In the MIXED WOODS, to the left of the parking lot en- and sweet pepperbush. Local birds are listed on a chart on trance, are the variations of shade, moisture, and acidity the nearby bulletin board. The unique rectangular holes 11 found in a predominantly deciduous forest. Under sugar made by a Pileated Woodpecker are displayed in the maple, hawthorn, and beech trees are baneberry, Solomon stump of a tree. The THICKET also has many specimens plume, foamflower, wintergreen, pyrola, sundrops, and vio- 12 of edible and medicinal plants, trees, and shrubs which lets. Across the path is a small cedar swamp. Among the are beneficial to humans. trees near the swamp are viburnum, horsetail, large ferns, 9 and a stand of showy lady's slipper. The FERN PATH dis- plays an extensive fern collection. A dry brook, shaded by In the CONIFEROUS WOODS cone-bearing trees are plant- hop-hornbeam and conifers, is edged with dalibarda and ed close together for easy identification. The fallen needles wood sorrel. On a small moist island are Jack-in-the-pulpit of spruces, pines, hemlock, fir, and larch (tamarack) acid- and goldthread, and on a larger island are shad and birch ify the soil and their boughs provide year-round shade for trees shading yellow lady's slipper, trillium, and mayflower. Canada mayflower, goldthread, pipsissewa, pyrolas, blue- Opposite the moist island grow red, black, and white ash bead lily, wintergreen, partridgeberry, twinflower, bunchberry trees. A bench beside twinflower and partridgeberry affords dogwood, starflower, whorled loosestrife, clubmosses, and a view of Dorr Mountain and the bird thicket. orchids. Mayflower grows in the more open areas. Not yet excluded by the heavy shade of a mature coniferous forest 2 are various young trees and shrubs: birch, yew, honeysuck- Along the ROADSIDE are sumac and a hawthorn, as well le, hobblebush, witherod, and the locally infrequent mountain as a mass of New York ferns growing in full sun. Growing laurel. The fence by the parking lot supports clematis and po- in front of the remains of an old stone wall are asters, tato bean. To the right of the entrance is a damp area where goldenrods, flowering raspberry, and juniper. In addition, mosses, ferns, and skunk cabbage thrive. there are edible berries: blackberry, huckleberry, rasp- 10 berry, and blueberry. Beside the brook are hog peanut As A RESULT OF BEAVER ACTIVITY IN PONDS THAT ARE LINKED TO and ferns (interrupted, cinnamon, and royal). THE GARDENS BY STREAMS, THE PATH AROUND THE BOG IS OFTEN 3 FLOODED EARLY IN THE SEASON. The MEADOW, an area of continual change, is mowed The path to the BOG begins on the far side of the bridge. yearly to prevent the return of the forest. Bluets, blue-eyed 6 The moist and highly acidic sphagnum bog supports sev- grass, strawberries, pussytoes, and violets bloom in the eral northern plant species: baked-apple berry, crowberry, The SEASIDE, constructed and maintained by the intro- spring. They are succeeded in mid-summer by fireweed, bog Solomonplume, two varieties of cranberry, cotton duction of seaweed and beach gravel, supports roseroot dogbane, pearly everlasting, eyebright, sweetfern, steeple (a rare sedum) and the more unusual arctic beachhead grasses, Labrador tea, bog laurel, bog rosemary and a bush, meadowsweet, cinquefoils, meadow rue, Robbins black spruce. Here also are several bog orchids and the iris. Here also are skullcap, orach, blue flag iris, beach ragwort, roses, evening primrose, and in autumn by gold- pea, sea lavender, seaside goldenrod, Scotch lovage, ger- insectivorous sundew, bladderwort, and pitcher plant. enrods and asters. mander, spreading silver and gold potentilla, and beach 11 4 grasses. The MARSH supports calla, Joe Pye weed, marsh cinque- The MOUNTAIN supports plants of higher elevations: 7 foil, buckbean, meadow beauty, yellow loosestrife, skull- mountain sandwort, black and broom crowberry. three- The BROOKSIDE/DAMP THICKET is an area of com- cap, and skunk cabbage. Leatherleaf, rhodora, Labrador toothed cinquefoil, Bar Harbor juniper, rock polypody, tea, and members of the heath family are also found here. parative plantings. On the moist bank of the brook are mountain cranberry, bearberry, bayberry, northern Jack Unlike a bog, where there is standing water, the Marsh cardinal flower, hobblebush, dogwoods, and winterberry. pine, and the southern bear oak. Among the rocks are col- has a natural outlet to the brook. Across the path in the DAMP THICKET are viburnums: umbine, pale corydalis, spleenwort, and harebell. maple-leaved, witherod, arrowwood, and highbush cran- 12 5 berry; three dogwoods: pale, pagoda, and bunchberry; The POND is highlighted in early spring by marsh marigolds The HEATH, dry and rocky, is dominated by plants of the two hollies: winterberry and mountain, and the related and in summer by waterlilies and their attendant frogs. heath family: rhodora (both the common rosy and rare beaked hazel and hop-hornbeam. Several examples of Found among the lilies are horsetail, arrowhead, and pick- white), lambkill, blueberries, and huckleberry. The acid the lily family from different habitats are also gathered erelweed, and along the bank are blue flag, cattail, sweet soil, low in nutrients, supports a variety of other plants here: wood Solomonplume, star Solomonplume, small gale, steeplebush, buckbean, cardinal flower, turtlehead, including golden heather, pinweed, bush honeysuckle, Solomon's seal. wood Solomon's seal, trout lily, wild oats, and sedges. Near the bench are trillium and sweet flag. On chokeberry, sweetfern, and sweet gale. and rosybells. the far side a larch shades mosses and wild calla. EDUCATION ARTS COMING EVENTS CALENDAR LOCALS CLASSIFIEDS The Bar Harbur Times SELECTS B October 19, 1989 Wild Gardens of Acadia Two woman who helned the seeds reap the fruits By Anne Kozak Photos courtesy of Wild Gardens of Acadia In this 1979 photo, Janet TenBroeck, left, and Elizabeth Thorndike admire the growth that has occurred in this habitat at Wild Gardens of Acadia since the early 1960s. t started out as a plot of tangled blackber- on them," said Sue Leiter, who has been a commit- In recognition of their noteworthy service to I ry bushes and scarred maples. tee member since 1974. "Inevitably, what we leave horticulture and their work in creating the Wild But the vision, leadership and with is a sense of renewal and an increased desire to Gardens of Acadia, the Massachusetts Horticultural indomitable energy of two Mt. Desert maintain the Wild Gardens much as they first envi- Society is awarding TenBroeck and Thorndike silver Island women, Janet TenBroeck and Eliza- sioned it." medals at the society's Patron Dinner at the Ritz beth Thorndike, transformed the desolate Carlton in Boston on Oct. 26. three-quarter acre plot of land into Wild Neither will be there to accept in person, and Gardens of Acadia, a thriving garden con- both were quick to point out that the medals really taining more than 500 native Mt. Desert Island belong not to them but to all the past and present plant species committee members. For more than 25 years, TenBroeck and The Wild Gardens was created and is maintained Thorndike visited the garden daily from early spring by volunteers who are members of the Wild Gardens until late autumn. And for most of those years, the Committee and by some part-time help, including daily visits included weeding, pruning, overseeing two summer students. the summer students, consulting with other members The Bar Harbor Garden Club did not set out to of the Wild Gardens committee and planning make a wild flower garden much less the Wild Gar- changes that would display the plants more effective- dens of Acadia. Rather in 1961, a group of members ly or more appropriately. all of whom were interested in conservation simply Their work and visits in more recent years have wanted to learn more about growing and maintain- been fewer, mostly because ill health and age ing native plants. TenBroeck is 93 and Thorndike is 81 - have pre- One garden club member was Sally Hubler, the vented them from working as actively as they once wife of the then superintendent of Acadia National did. But what has not changed is their inspiration, Park Harold Hubler. The park superintendent interest and encouragement. offered the group land near Sieur de Monts Springs "Each of us on the Wild Gardens of Acadia - land which park founder George Dorr had pur- Committee regularly asks Janet or Betty for advice or just goes to talk over the day's work and try ideas out GARDENS continues on the next page HOGANA GARDENS from the previous page chased in 1908 and aptly named the wrote Dorr when the gardens were Wild Gardens of Acadia. incorporated in 1916. "The purpose of the Wild Garden Although Dorr himself never Corporation is to provide sanctuaries developed this concept, what he did for the plant and animal life-the do was to provide the land and the flora and fauna - of the Acadia genesis of an idea. The members of region and to make these sanctuar- the Wild Garden Committee under ies useful not only in conservation but the direction of TenBroeck and as an opportunity for study, a source of Thorndike gave that idea form and pleasure and a means of information," existence. "Our initial objective was to devel- op the garden into habitats, an objec- tive given to us by Dorcas Crary, an early committee member and the only botanist among us," said TenBroeck. "Only just recently on my visits to the gardens have I seen that objective realized. We took a piece of land with undifferentiated plants and made it seem as if the deciduous and conifer- ous woods, meadow, bog, pond and shoreline were always there. It's been a slow process but it's coming," she added. The garden is part of Acadia National Park and reflects the various habitats found in the park. Since one of the goals was to display only native To offset some of the gardens' costs, the garden committee holds plants sales species, the challenge was to deter- every June and September. Here Thorndike, left, and TenBroeck count the money after a sale. mine which plants were "native." Common island plants like lilac, Desert, we determined what plants The plants'an shrubs are replicas of rugosa rose and lupine, for example, were appropriately native," explained what one finds in that same habitat were introduced here and conse- long-time committee member Katrina anywhere in the park. With Hubler's quently are excluded from the Wild Hummell whose current role is main- help, Thorndike, for example, con- Gardens. taining meticulous records of all the structed a mountain and planted there "With the help of George Wher- plants in the garden. pitch pine, northern Jack pine, bear ry's Wild Flowers of Mt.-Desert Island, Individual committee members oak, mountain cranberry, bearberry, Maine, published in 1928 under the assumed the responsibility for creating bayberry, saxifrage, rock polypody aegis of the Garden Club of Mt. and maintaining a specific habitat. mountain sandwort, three-toothed principally from the proceeds of plant sales held each June and September and from donations from individuals and groups like the Garden Club of Mt. Desert. "From the beginning the park has been one of our biggest supporters," said Thorndike. "In addition to the land, the park maintains the water sys- tem and supplies us with signs, labels and sundry services. On occasion, a project like cutting large trees or exca- vating a pond has been too big for us to accomplish on our own. Despite changing superintendents and heads of maintenance crews, the park has never failed in its support and encour- agement of us." Over the years the Wild Gardens of Acadia has received numerous hon- ors including the Kellogg Medal for Civic Achievement, Garden Club of America's award for significant contri- bution to horticulture, and the New England Wildflower Society's medal for outstanding achievement in con- servation. But the latest honor from the Mas- sachusetts Horticultural Society is In 1963 Thorndike and former Acadia National Park Superintendent Harold Hubler built "Hubler Mountain" so the appreciated nevertheless. plants which grow naturally at higher elevation could be displayed in an appropriate habitat. "This particular award is especially cinquefoil, black and broom crowber- areas are continuing to develop, for park. The additional five-square- significant, for it recognizes the contri- ry, and wild columbine - all plants like any garden the Wild Gardens are foot plot will enable more bog plant bution of two outstanding women," one finds at higher elevations. not static. Maintaining the specific species to be displayed in the habi- said Barbara Cole, the current chair of the Wild Gardens Committee. "It is Other committee members devel- habitat requires constant vigilance tat which is often frequented by oped the coniferous and deciduous and in some instances, expansion. school groups as well as countless impossible to count the number of woods, the meadow, bog, heath and Ruth Goldthwait, who with the park visitors. hours Betty and Janet have given to the gardens or to put a value on their pond. Since none of the plant species late Betty Owens developed and What is amazing about a project of vision, encouragement and sense of common to these areas were growing maintained the bog, is presently this scope is that it was developed and commitment." there, members collected and propa- expanding the area with the help of is maintained largely by volunteers. gated the various plants. Today those other committee members and the Funding for the gardens comes A Junet T2 also relevent often. Brock As I see it I like best to think of the WGA as a collective project by Garden Club women with little knowledge or experience but with the desire to develop and share an understanding of the natural beauties of our fortunate location. My own interest was aroused when as conservation chairman of the BH Garden Club, I saw lists of flowers not to be picked, a negative that aroused my curiosity to recognize and discover the reason for their scarcity and perhaps to overcome it. So a prize was offered in 1960 to the club member who could cultivate the most native flowers in her garden. The next year it was offered to the one who had the most plants from the "restricted" list. Sally Hubler was active with me on this project, and one afternoon in the presence of our husbands, I revealed that we and the local community knew SO little about the native plants that it would be good if they could be planted and named in a public place. To my surprise Hal [Hubler, superintendent of Acadia National Park] said "You could have a place in the Park to do it." The idea was very exciting to me and I called Dorcas Crary who was a very knowledgeable member of the Club and she agreed that it would be a good venture. I think it was she who presented the idea to the club at a summer meeting at Olga Bowden's (of which no minutes were kept) and secured their support. Shortly afterwards we met with Mr., the Park's landscape architect and he showed us a possible site, beyond the one later assigned to us, and discussed possibilities in which he was eager to help us. Unfortunately he was transferred shortly, and we were given the present site, bordered by the brook and readily accessible. Park service men hacked paths through the tangle of blackberry bushes and we went to work to clean them out. Dorcas Crary wisely insisted from the first that the Gardens should be divided into habitat areas, even though the land was level, undifferentiated, and shaded by old red maples, with no desirable flora except the large ferns. Dorcas moved in the very first plant - a purple fringed orchid which lay in the path of a bull-dozer. She continued her [to be] active in the Gardens for several years, selecting the 8 habitats, collecting, planting, and giving botanical talks to the Committee members. When, at the beginning, we learned that the Park's founder, George B. Dorr, had given the name WGA to the Sieurs de Monts regions, conducted horticultural experiments, and issued publications, we were glad to fall heir to the name, though with our modest expectations it seemed rather presumptuous. Our group was organized more formally in 1964 as an autonomous self-perpetuating Committee, and tax-exemption for the Garden Club as a whole was obtained in order to be able to accept tax-deductible gifts. Betty Thorndike, who had vigorously supported the project from the outset, became our very able and continuing Chairman. When in Nov '64, Harold Hubler outlined his idea of our objectives for us. "This is not an arboretum for scientific study where it is imperative that the specimens are minutely classified in genus, species, and variety. Recognition by [the] common name will be the most beneficial to the general Park visitor. Scientific names frighten many and discourage their learning to recognize wild plants and flowers" - I made a mental reservation and resolved to try to develop "a horticultural garden to conserve, propagate, and display as many indigenous plants as possible with special emphasis on those which should be protected" and to give them their proper scientific names as well as the often misleading common names. ANP-LIBRARY VERT. 35 NATIONAL COUNCIL OF STATE GARDEN CLUBS, INC. LICATION FOR AWARD NUMBER NAME OF AWARD (see back) KELLOGG MUDAL FOR CIVIC ACIII (type or print all information) DATE OF APPLICATION 1 Nov 1974 SENT FROM STATE FEDERATION OF MAINE APPLICANT'S NAME IS: (type EXACTLY, in full, as to appear on any award won) CLUB OR CLUBS BAR HARBOR GARDEN CLUB COUNCIL DISTRICT ST CROTX INDIVIDUAL INSTITUTION OR ORGANIZATION GARDEN CLUB FED. of MAINE STATE MAINE REGION NEW ENGT Bar Harbor Gerden Club c/o ADDRESS L'ss. J. C. coff, RFD #1, Box 71, Bar Harbor, Maine 04,609 (address of applicant must be complete, including zip code) TITLE, or THEME of PROJECT, SHOW or ACHIEVEMENT ILD GARDENS OF ACADIA" REQUIRED DESCRIPTION of work of individual, club/s state. Briefly describe project. Attach original application form permanently in book; second copy with gem clip for easy removal. The brief description MUST BE included. Detailed information to be a part of the Book of Evidence. The purpose of the Wild Gardena of Acedia is to provide an ex ample in appreciation of the immedicte environment end ways to preserve it: + conserve, propagate, and identify within a l'mited area, the plants native to Desert Island, for public education and enjoyment; and to make an unusual and come contri ution to a National iark and the vaat public it serves. Although this project was begun 13 years ago, we have chosen this time to apply for r nition because it is now sufficiertly mature to show that it is fulfilling it purpose. Club membership 69; pop. Mt. Desert Island, 7,800; Garden 3/4 acre Acadia National : ark (34,000 acres); Bar Herbor G. C's project, Wild Gerden C mittee of 20 supported by entire membership SIGNATURE OF STATE AWARDS CHAIRMAN Mrs Davy ADDRESS 7 Million it Brinsure Inaire ZIP 04011 SIGNATURE OF STATE PRESIDENT Mr. Philip Spinney NOTE: State Awards Chairman must mail application to NATIONAL AWARDS CHAIRMAN National Awards Chairman; applications MUST BE Mrs. Carroll O. Griffin RECEIVED ON OR BEFORE JAN. 15. Check with your 1322 Sweetbriar Road P.O. to assure arrival in time. Insure for safety. Orlando, Florida 32806 IMPORTANT: HAVE YOU INCLUDED? 1. (A) FLOWER SHOW DESCRIPTION ABOVE HERE. (B) THREE (3) signed EVALUATION FORMS. (c) PICTURES. (D) PUBLICITY. (E) TWO (2) SCHEDULES. (F) EXPENSE RECORDS. NOTE: Description above must include theme, town, club name, membership, names of Judges, number participating, number of entries, which top awards were given, give title of Conservation and Educational Exhibits. State if Juniors participated and how. #11 must it 10% member clubs exhibiting. #17 must list gardens visited. #18 must list 5 or more lbs participating. #30 must list 1/5 clubs exhibiting. #5, 18, and 20 not eligible secutive years. Note Rules 1, 2, 9 and 10. OTHER AWARD DESCRIPTION (fill in above) List club size, city size, project size, number of clubs participating, member effort, statistics, expenses, summary of project. Note Rules 1, 2 and 10. "WILD GARDENS OF ACADIA" a protect of the BAR HAMBOR GARDEN CLUB ST. CROIX DISTRICT GARDEN CLUB FEDERATION OF MAINE Sieur de Monts Sprino Number of Members - 69 Acadia National Park -Bar Harbor, Maine The purpose of the Wild Gordens of Acadia is to provide an yample in appreciation of the immediate environment and ways to - reserve it; to nonnerve, propagate, and identify within a limited ama, the plants native to Mt.. Desert Island, for public education enj ment; are to make an unusual and welcome cortrinution to 9 Park and the vast public it serves. Altbouth this project thirteen veans A. We have chosen this time to andly can because it is outsidentive motive show that fulfilling its surface. 10/1/2016 XFINITY Connect XFINITY Connect eppster2@comcast.net + Font Size Re: Wild gardens From Ronald Epp Sat, Oct 01, 2016 10:19 AM Subject : Re: Wild gardens To : Karen Kupiec Cc : Anne Kozak , sleiter@roadrunner.com Dear Karen, Back from this book tour and as promised I've easily located the reference you sought. Yes, I did make use of the National Archives but this source is from The Bar Harbor Times and the author is Anne Kozak. In a lengthy article dated 10/19/1989 titled "Wild Gardens of Acadia" she refers to WGA member Sally Hubler, "the wife of then superintendent of Acadia National Park Harold Hubler. The park superintendent offered the group land near Sieur de Monts Springs--land which park founder George Dorr had purchased in 1908 and aptly named the Wild Gardens of Acadia." Microfilm copies of the BHT are available at the Jesup Library and the BHHS Museum. I also have in my files a four by eight inch six-page illustrated cream-colored pamphlet printed in 1990 from the BHGC that contains a section on the Club history that repeats what I have said above. Moreover, I loaned my WGA file to Anne several months ago and it was returned to me with a new undated typescript letter attributed to Janet Ten Broeck who worked with Liz Thorndike to establish the gardens. In that letter that was unintentional sent to me --and I can return it, Anne--there is much more detail on the Hublers. So Karen, if you would like any of this material photocopied and sent to you, please provide me with contact information. Glad to be helpful. All the Best, Ronald Epp From: "Karen Kupiec" To: "Susan S. Leiter" Cc: "Michaeleen Ward" , "Dianne McMullan" , "Ronald Epp" Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2016 8:26:08 AM Subject: Re: Wild gardens Sue I have forwarded your contact information on to Dianne who is coordinating the Oral History project. From what I understand those interviews are, or are nearing, completion as the project end date is September 30. I am conducting historical research for the club as we look to update our website on its history and contributions to the community- separate project. Karen On Mon, Sep 26, 2016 at 12:44 PM, Susan S. Leiter wrote: Karen, Can't help with the reference question. I thought you were doing an oral history of the WGA and that I might be of some help with that. If you are not working on the oral history project perhaps you will forward my offer of help to the appropriate BHGC person. Although I am no longer active in the Wild Gardens I am still interested and would like to help where I can. https://web.mail.comcast.net/zimbra/h/printmessage?id=390599&tz=America/New_York&xim=: 1/2 10/1/2016 XFINITY Connect Thanks, Sue From: Karen Kupiec Date: Monday, September 26, 2016 at 8:03 AM To: Susan Leiter , Michaeleen Ward , Dianne McMullan , Ronald Epp Subject: Re: Wild gardens Sue I am assuming you heard of my research question due to my email to Professor Ronald Epp? As I mentioned in my email to him, I am looking for the authoritative reference for this quote "Thanks to an offer from then Park Superintendent Harold Huber, this public garden was established by the wild gardens committee of the Bar Harbor Garden Club. 11 Those quote is found in this work by Mr. Epp:http://mdihistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2004-George-Dorrs-Vision-by-Ronald-Epp_ocr.pdf,which I found online. Like Professor Epp, I also have a background in academic library administration (at Yale) and therefore assume that this quote from his published work must be based on an authoritative historical reference. I suspect this information exists in the park records at the National Archives but a research trip there isn't possible at this time. Would you happen to know the source information for this quote? Do you know if Professor Epp consulted the National Archives in his research? Thank you for any information you can provide. Karen Reardon Kupiec On Sun, Sep 25, 2016 at 5:52 PM, Susan Leiter wrote: Karen, i have heard that you are researching the history of The Wild Gardens of Acadia. Although i am no longer actively involved in the Gsrdens i did volunteer there for almost forty yesrs and i knew several of the founding members quite well. Please feel free to telephone me if i can answer any questions for you. I am in France at the moment but will be returning to Bar Harbor early this week and available after Wednesdsy. Sue Leiter 288"3265 Sent from my iPhone https://web.mail.comcast.net/zimbra/h/printmessage?id=390599&tz=America/New_York&xim=1 2/2 COMMUNITY The cituation of our Garden Club is unique: the village of Bar Harbor is on Mt. Desert Island. It was named by Champlain in 1604 "L'Isle de Monts Deserts", colonized later, and in the 19th century became a haven for "rusticators", artists, and nature lovers. Out- standing among the latter was George R. Dorr (b. 1953-19/141, who devoted his life and fortune to the preservation of the beauty of the Island for public enjoyment. He was instrumental in creating Acedia National Park on land given to the government by private citizens, the only Park so founded. The Park covers one third of this Island (or 34,000 acres) and is notable and accessible to vacationers from all over the country. The remaining two thirds contain the vi llages of Bar, Bass, Northeast, Seal and Southwest Harbors; Somesville, Tremont, McKinley, Bernard, Otter Creek, Town Hill; Hulls and Salisbury Coves; bringing the total population of the Island up to 7300 inhabitants. Permanent residents are attracted to the Island by its scientific and educational institu- tions: the Jackson Laboratory for cancer and genetic research, (with over 400 employees 1; the Mt. Desert Biological Laboratory; and the newly established College of the Atlantic, devoted to ecological studies. Also, contributing to the character and economy of the Island are the fishing and boat-building industries, and especially tourism and its services, since there is an influx of about two and 8 half million visitors every year. There are three garden clubs on the Island, all members of the Garden Club Federation of Maine; the BER Harbor and Rass Harbor Garden Clubs and the Garden Club of Mount Desert, the latter, active only in summer is also an associate of the Garden Club of America. ORIGIN AND OBJECTIVES OF "WILD GARDENS OF ACADIA" The project originated in a conservation effort of the Bar Harbor en Club to recornize and to grow within our own gerdens the pro- nd wild flowers, rather than merely to refrain from picking them. Harold A. Hubler, Sunerintendant of Acadia National Park, and athetic husband of a member, offered the Club the use of a tract land within the Park so that we could cultivate, label, and display I've plants for the benefit of all. He allocated a site which, al- ough botanically unpromising, is easily accessible, adjacent to Sieur Monts Spring, the Park's Nature Center, and the Abbe Museum of Stone Antiquities. The flat 3/4 of an acre was overgrown with black- - cries and spirea, and old red maples damaged by the great fire of 7, which had eliminated the conifers, but contained a wealth of ree ferns and a winding brook partly fed by the Spring. In the fall of 1961 we had a survey made, began to clear the cambles, lay out paths, and plan sections to become specific habitats danted to meet the needs of the plants we hoped to collect: for decidu- IS and coniferous areas, meadow, roadside, dry heath, beach, bog, and buntain. (See pcs. 22-32) It seemed a bit ridiculous on this level lot with no conifers, no rocks except those that lined the brook, none the natural beauty of the Island except for e view of near by norr ountain. However, a beautiful fringed orchid RS soon saved from the "progress of road nstruction, trees and ground covers were anted, and our imarinations also took ot. In 19f3, Sunerintendant Hubler, to r great delight, designed and had erect E 8 pile of large rocks, affectionately alled "Mt. Hubler", for our alpine species. Although the Bar Harbor Garden Club as a whole sponsored the project and invited the other two clubs to join in, the Actual work was delegated to a semi-independant committee, (membership 15 to 20) respon- sible for raising its own funds, but eided by the entire membership. It was found that George B. Dorr had given the name "WILD GARDENS OF ACADIA" to the region around Sieur de Monts Spring and incorporated it "for educational and scientific purposes" in 1916, had planted some rare trees there and issued some botanical publications. We therefore revived this name for our project, happy to follow such an enlightened tradition. ACTIVITIES TO ATTAIN GOALS Since our goal was to grow and display native plants, we had first to learn which they are and where and how they grow. Our authorities or these matters are two books: Wild Flowers of Mt. Desert, Maine, by Dr. Edger T. Wherry, published in 1928 by the Garden Club of Mount Desert, and Flora of Mount Desert, by Edward L. Rand and John H. Red- field, based on their survey in 1894. The policy of our host, Acadia National Park, precludes us from including in the Gardens any adventive species or late-coming "escapes" such as lupine, daisy, clover, tansy, rugosa rose, etc. : also, like other citizens and good conservationists, we must seek our specimens outside the Park and where bull-dozers threaten or private owners consent. Our members do almost all of the collecting but we soon realized the need of manuel and financial help. The former we found in the good friend and strong right arm of Ted Mitchell, an experienced gardener, who has riven us A half day a week from the very beginning. In addition, the Park has assigned to us each summer a student from the University of Maine under the Work and Study Program. These young people, of varying talents, have been helpful in unkeep and interrretation to the public. For funds we depend chiefly ales in June and Sentember of ts from members' gardens, often uding native plants which we propagated. The town fathers W us to hold these on the lage Green. We have not sought publicity since spontaneous responses from the eral public and the press have been more than generous and the Car- - S are thronged with visitors. We send annual letters to about two tred "Friends" (see p.11) and maintain a slide program for our own and that of other clubs. From the beginning, we have kept a card index of species planted. ir location, time of bloom, and other notes. Of the 400 species cribed by Wherry as native, we have established 300 and hope to find i cultivate most of the rest. Through the years, Acadia National Park has been at our side with ln and anpreciation. Successive Superintendants Harold Hubler, Thomas le, John Good, and Keith Miller have reviewed the Gardens with us each ar and provided many services: laying in an ample water supply from eur de Monte Spring, building a "mountain", digging a bog, providing udent help, tree surgery, bulletin board, register, dispensing hoxes 8 our folders and post cards, wooden area signs and many metal and astic labels for our plants, building bridges over the brook, and rnishing neat and gravel end encouragement. RESULTS Because of the great attraction of this Island and especially Acadia National Park, our Gardens are visited by interested people from all over this and other countries. (See p. 12 ) Garden club members come singly and in groups; botanists are interested in the curious intermingling of northern and southern species; children are brought from schools and summer camps, and given instruction about what they see; little boys are diverted from the fun of stoning frogs and teasing chipmunks to the wonders of the insect-eating pitcher plant or the tiny spring inside the touch-me-not seed-pod; hiking groups of naturalists make a point of checking names of flowers they have wondered about; invalids are grateful for the level paths which permit wheelchairs. In 1974 members of the National Council of State Garden Clubs, Inc. made us a visit on their Post Convention Northern New England and Nova Scotia tour from Boston; and the annual State of Maine Environmental Congress of the Natural Resource Council, hosted by the College of the Atlantic, made the Gardens a feature of two workshops. Although our membership is still struggling to learn botany the hard way, we have been fortunate in our friends; naturalists in the Park Service; botanists from the Universities of Maine, New Hampshire, Connect- icut, and Michigan; and the College of the Atlantic; and also Dr. A. E. Brower, well known State entomologist and naturalist brings not only his wide knowledge of native flora, but many precious plants; as have horti- culturists Arthur Thatcher and Walter Winkler. (See P. 15 ) The advice of Dr. Edgar Wherry, whose rook is our chief reference, and who himself visited us on his 80th birthday and commended our work, continues in correspondence. In 1973 the Bog was enlarged and reshaped, and in 1974 continued stepping stones around it, set by the Park, and additional plantings. issued 6,000 of our third colored post card picturing the bunchberry lower and fruit, a plant unfamiliar to many visitors. (See p. 17) descriptive folder has just been revised and a printing of ten thous- copies is already three-fourths sold at ten cents a copy. (See p. 32) protect the bog from deciduous leaves falling into it, we have purchased arge, treated, fishing net with which we cover the entire bog in the 1. In the spring, the College of the Atlantic offered a short course horticulture to which one of our members was sent on scholarshin. She now able to make chemical tests of our soils and those to which the e difficult plants, such as orchids, are accustomed. This summer, en it was observed that some purple inged orchids at Thunder Hole had en picked, the Park decided that the ants would be safer with us. Accord- gly, with a uniformed Ranger standing , we lifted four plants, with their companying soil, and set them in a imparable location in Area 1. (See 23) We are working towards an derstanding of the function of cro-organisms in the soil of orchids d other difficult species. Our greatest step forward this ar was the engagement of Marian anley Burns as part-time horticul- Habenamia fimbriate purple fringed orchii) rist. She is a teacher who has en of great help in the past as a volunteer. She concerned herself aclecting and onronoement of planta for their respective habitats; better grouping and labelling of those which tend to intermingle, go dormant, or wander: collection and in- dexing of new species; landscaping for better effect, especially around benches; and meeting the public with helpful information. She also directed and taught the Work and Study student provided bv the Park, who out in a forty-hour work week. FUTURE As the Gardens attract more general and more serious interest, our desire to improve them increases. We are still searching for many important species. However, some are beyond our competence to classify; liverworts, lichens, the multitudinous grasses; and some orchids are be- - yond our skill to grow. However, we hope sometime to master the needs of a few more orchids, such seaside plants as the lovely seaside blue- bell mertensia maritima, the elusive wood-nymph, moneses uniflora, which we are struggling to maintain, as well as the maidenhair spleenwort, asplenium trichomanes. Maintenance is itself a problem as trees and plants increase in size, causing not only crowding but changes of light and drainage. We have no wish to enlarge our area - Heaven forbid! - our only hope is to make our display more attractive and informative toth by its arrangement and labelling, by replacing log benches as needed, revising our folder, and printing new post cards. The Gardens, which can never be closed to the public, are quite untended for hours every day. We have discovered with some surprise how many serious minded visitors and correspondents want precise infor- mation not always easy to supply. It is therefore our hope to engage a horticulturist or working curator such as we had this summer on part time. Our plant sales and other sources of funds have new urgency. Like Alice in Wonderland, we have to keep running to stav where we are. UNIVERSITY OF MAINE at Fort Kent Mathematics - Science Division Pleasant Street Fort Kent, Maine 04743 207/994-3162 October 4, 1974 Mrs. Carl Ten Broeck Seely Road Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 Dear Mrs. Ten Broeck: I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for showing me and my class in Plant Morphology around the Wild Gardens of Acadia when we were in Acadia National Park. You and the Bar Harbor Garden Club are to be congratulated highly for your efforts and achievements. The students and I agreed that it is remarkable how successfully you have brought such a diverse array of habitants together in one limited area, and even more important, considering the vagaries of wildflowers, succeeded as well as you have in getting such a large number of plants to florish in the Gardens. The idea of arranging the Gardens in habitats as a basis I consider to be a very felicitous choice. The students commented to me over the weekend after their visit that it was so much easier to understand the various ecological sites in the Park we visited because they had already "seen" these sites in the Wild Gardens. They also were able to understand how special a habitat and "delicate" a one a bog is, for example. The fact that there is even difficulty in maintaining a balance in the "marsh" certainly got them to thinking about why the balance is so easily maintained in nature. I was pleased to see that you hadn't forgotten the seaside and have such a section that is actually supporting typical seaside plants. I believe my students came away from the Gardens with a better under- standing of the balance and interrelationshipe of various environments and plant communities than they could have obtained from much reading. I have recommended highly to the teacher in ecology at our school that future classes which do studies on Mt. Desert Island would do well to visit the Garden first. Congratulations. Sincerely yours, Ben Liles, Jr. BL/rp Dr. Benjamin Las. Associate Professor Science OF DEPARTMENT United States Department of the Interior NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Acadia National Park RFD #1, Box 1 IN REPLY REFER TO: Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 September 20, 1974 Mrs. A. Thorndike Chairman Wild Garden of Acadia Committee Bar Harbor Garden Club Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 Dear Mrs. Thorndike: It is not too often I find sufficient reason to write a letter of commendation, but this one has long been overdue. I know I have verbally expressed my pleasure and satisfaction concerning the Wild Garden of Acadia, with members of the Bar Harbor Garden Club, but have not formally recognized the value of your efforts to the visitors of Acadia National Park. My career has placed me in four national parks - Mt. Rainier, Glacier, Wind Cave and Acadia. Each of these has some assisting organizations, normally a National Park and Monument Association, which helps in Visitor Center operations and interpretive programs. It was of interest to me upon my arrival at Acadia to find a thriving association and, in addition, another organization also taking a strong and active participation in providing a service to the visitors of Acadia. I know of no other group in the National Park Service areas who has contributed time, efforts and funds to provide such a down to earth interpretive display. The National Park Service is committed to providing an experience to the park visitor, embodying the natural features and their relationships in the community of life. We do this through our naturalist prog- rams and the natural scene. Unfortunately, many of the plant colonies are separated and in areas where it is impractical for the visitor to see each plant group or to associate it with the plant life within Acadia National Park. The Bar Harbor Garden Club recognized this situation and through their efforts and the coopera- tion of former Superintendent Hubler started the Wild Gardens of ) Acadia. Here the park visitors can spend as much time as they might desire in not only seeing the plant life, but to recognize its name and relationship in its community, whether it be the meadow, bog, or forest. DUNNING The gardens have become such an integral part of the Acadia scene that it has become one of the most visited features in the park. The Gardens are situated adjacent to the Nature Center and will be included within our environmental education complex since it will form a significant portion of our environmental education program. Perhaps I have given too much time to the value of the gardens to Acadia and not enough to the members of the Wild Garden of Acadia Committee who have made it possible. I don't know if any- one has kept track of the untold hours that have been donated by your dedicated members, but I know that when I stop there I can plan on seeing someone diligently working with the plants. I would like to offer a commendation to a great idea which has been successfully implemented and continued through the efforts of a dedicated group, with the sincere hope that your enthusiasm will continue, that the Acadia Wild Garden will always be a focal point for the visitor to Acadia National Park. Sincerely yours, teits E Whiller Keith E. Miller Superintendent Bunchberry Dogwood, Cornus canadensis, in Wild Gardens of Acadia, Sieur de Monts Spring, Acadia National Park. Project of the 4137-D Bar Harbor Garden Club. Bar Harbor, Maine. June flowers, August fruit. post card - 17 - Photo by Richard Mornson the public. could accomplish a double DownEast purpose. It would provide a permanent shelter for rare species and would afford people a unique opportunity to enjoy July 1974 Volume XX Number 10 them. The problem was how and where. When the question was mentioned to Harold Huber, then superintendent of Acadia National Park, he broke a precedent by offering the club use of a three-quarter-acre plot of land near the Sieur de Monts Spring area in the Park. Ordinarily, private groups are neither asked nor allowed to undertake manage- ment of a project in a national park. Though the tract contained only large hardwood trees, a few ferns, and a bounty of brambles, the club members went to work with enthusiasm. But before the manual labor of collecting and replanting specimens could take place, areas in the tract had to be modified to establish proper conditions for the survival of the plants. Apart from some heavy construction, VILD such as building a "mountain" and digging a place to make a bog, most of the work was done by club members and GARDENS other volunteers. Edgar R. Wherry's 1928 book, Wild Flowers of Mt. Desert Island, was used as a guide in planning the project. OF ACADIA Plants are particular about their "habitat." For example, a pitcher plant thrives in the wet, acid condition of a bog, but will not grow in a marsh which may be equally wet but has neutral soil. Thus the Gardens had to duplicate with some exactness the conditions of dif- ferent habitats on Mount Desert if the plants were to prosper. Habitats now well established in the Gardens include decid- uous and coniferous woods, sea beach, T HERE was a time on Mount Desert when children knocked on the doors of rich summer residents to offer for sale an armload of wild orchids or a fistful of delicate little wild columbine. That time S past. Careless picking and the encroach- ments of development have caused many wildflowers to disappear from their native cliffs and bogs. Some species have become so rare that only experts are likely to find them. Were it not for the imagination and hard work of a group of women in Bar Harbor, few people would have a chance to see. growing in one area, I rich variety of beautiful plants. Back in 1961, some members of the Bar Harbor Garden Club, discussing the problem of wildflower conservation, decided that a wildflower garden, open to 56 remarkable because of their rarity or 200 species of indigenous trees, flowers, because of the inaccessible places in shrubs and plants have been set out, which they ordinarily grow. Among them representing the nine different environ- are the rattlesnake plantain with its ments where the flowers grow on the oval-striped leaves; the elusive, little Island. one-flowered pyrola, or wood nymph, SO It is difficult to count the number of hard to find that even some experts have people who enjoy the Gardens every year, never seen it growing wild; the pitcher but the money collected from the sale of plants and tiny sundew in the bog, where brochures and postcards indicates that they supplement their diet from the poor about 6500 visitors come each summer. soil by capturing and digesting insects. Equally hard to assess is the pleasure the Also in the bog are the rose pogonia, Gardens provide visitors. A recent letter its bright, pink head decorated with a from a Virginia attorney gives some fringed tongue; bladderwort, an insec- idea: Left - Purple fringed orchid, by LaRue Spiker. dry heath, roadside, meadow, marsh, bog, Right - The and mountain. rare white, and The thirteen areas in the Gardens - pink rhodora, with the plants labeled by their English by Richard and Latin names - are well marked by Morrison. signs, and half-log benches are set out along the many paths. Bottom, Noteworthy is a collection of ferns. opposite left - The identification of ferns is a highly Mountain specialized job, sometimes requiring cranberry, by microscopic examination. Then, too, Patrick Grace. related species often hybridize, thus complicating the problem. In the Gar- Below left - dens, careful labeling makes for instant Labrador tea, identification. by LaRue Some of the flowers are especially Spiker. tivorous plant that captures its prey by a "I write to salute you and the other system of tiny traps below the surface of members of the Bar Harbor Garden Club the water. Startling and seldom seen is for the Wild Gardens of Acadia. Perhaps the beautiful cardinal flower, its vibrant you should be reminded from time to red blooms borne on a tall stalk. time that, for some, the wild gardens are The Gardens have something for the most inspiring of all the charms of everyone. They also contain more com- your lovely island. You show us all that mon species like bunchberries, fireweed, man need not be the enemy of life, and lambkill and rhodora, some perhaps not more - that life can be enhanced by familiar to out-of-staters. virtue." Plants have been collected and pains- Reactions like the above are in no way takingly transplanted from far and wide singular, but they are rewarding to that outside the Park. The first one planted, a visionary band of ladies who first purple-fringed orchis, was rescued by a conceived the idea and who later, with dauntless club member from an ap- trowels, shovels, and a valiant indif- proaching bulldozer. A few species have ference to hard work, provided an unique had to be propagated. Altogether, over and lovely place for the public. 57 Wild Gardens of Acadia Page 1 of 2 For September 24/99 Issue The Vine The Gardens of Mount Desert Island - Part Three by Carla Allen If you've always been curious as to the identity of plants growing wild along the roadside and in our native woodlands, I strongly recommend a visit to The Wild Gardens of Acadia located at Sieur De Monts Spring on Mount Desert Island, Maine. Many of the plants grown in these gardens are similar to those found in Nova Scotia. Roughly 85,000 people visit these gardens annually. In 1961, The Wild Gardens Committee of the Bar Harbor Garden Club began transforming a plot of tangled blackberry bushes and red maples into various habitats for different species. Today, it's a journey of discovery as visitors travel the network of paths through this natural wilderness. Only species indigenous to Acadia National Park have been included and each is properly labelled. Some of the different plant types you can observe here are those you may find in mixed woods, by the roadside, in meadows, at the seaside, in a bog, or on a mountain. A protected bulletin board lists which plants are particularly noticeable for blooms or fruit during each month of the season. There are 20 people on the Wild Gardens Committee, eleven of whom usually work a 1/2 day shift on the grounds each week. Duties accomplished by others on the committee include a published leaflet and bulletin board updates. One of the two co-chairmen work in the WGA every day during the summer, providing instructions and assisting a student hired to tend the gardens. The Bar Harbor Garden Club generally holds two plant sales annually to help support the Wild Gardens of Acadia.. New additions to these gardens are usually planted in the spring. Some are collected when 'rescue sites' become available, others are purchased from nurseries which propagate their own plants and do not collect from the wild. Some species remain difficult to find and/or introduce, despite repeated attempts. Wood orchids have complicated soil requirements and are seldom found on properties scheduled for construction. The Northern Baked Apple Berry, a bog lover, has also proven to be fussy. There may be a few obstinate plants, but there are hundreds which are wildly successful. There are over 400 species planted at WGA and the collection presents a changing landscape during each month of the season. Right now, goldenrod, asters, pearly everlastings and mountain ash are highlighting the scenery. This is nature at her best, observed from the comfort of gravelled pathways. The bog area was partially rebuilt this summer because some of the fragile plants were being crowded out by more aggressive shrubs. Extra water was introduced through an underground hose to help the new plantings in the area. Sue Leiter, a club member who works at the Wild Gardens, expressed concern regarding drought experienced in the area during the past two summers. "In general we were able to keep the Wild Gardens of Acadia pretty well watered this summer. I expect trees all over the island will begin to suffer long term consequences if we have a third summer of drought." It's late afternoon when I climb aboard the bus to take me back to Bar Harbor and I'm very tired, but happy to have accomplished the goal I had set. The three public gardens of Mount Desert Island are now more familiar to me, but I learned about another 'secret' garden during my stay. A garden which is open to a limited number of visitors, on Thursday by appointment, for just two months during the summer. One is only able to call for the appointment during a set time on Tuesday or Wednesday. The gardens are those of J.D. Rockefeller and this family is understandably shy of publicity. No pictures may be published, a ban which I'd find terribly hard to handle, but would agree to for the privilege of viewing gardens the average person can only dream about. That evening we walk along the Shore Path in town beside the gardens of seaside estates. The 'Can 'Man', with hundreds of aluminum cans fastened to his outfit, goes rattling by on in-line skates. There are sweet peas on the counter in one of the galleries and the elderly owners urge me to sample the fragrance of these flowers they grew. The Chocolate Emporium is surprisingly empty at the chocolate counter tonight, but I sure wouldn't want to be in line for an ice cream. There are Help Wanted signs in every other window. Summer traffic is more comfortable now as Bar Harbor welcomes http://www.klis.com/scove/092499.htm 1/13/2003 Wild Gardens of Acadia Page 2 of 2 the cooler, less hectic days of autumn. If you can't make the trip this fall, plan on zipping across on the Cat (1-888-249-7245) next year. Go during off seasons for best ferry and accomodation rates--before June 20th and after Sept. 15. You'll also escape the crowds. If you'd like more information on visiting Mount Desert Island contact the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce, 93 Cottage St., P.O. Box 158, Bar Harbor, ME 04609; Tel: (207) 288-5103, Ext. 110; Fax: (207)288-2565; email Back to the Vine Index Home to South Cove Nursery http://www.klis.com/scove/092499.htm 1/13/2003