A Garden Tour of Skylands
At last year's Lobsters on the Sound event, I offered a garden tour of my Mt. Desert Island home, Skylands, for auction. All proceeds went to the Harbor House in Southwest Harbor. The Harbor House is a community center that provides health, fitness, sports, and activities for community members. They also have a children's center where they provide day care and early education for Mt. Desert Island families.
Michael Brewer and his wife, Alison, won the auction which also allowed up to twelve guests. MIchael runs a boutique firm called M Designs and Development. He and Alison have a shared love for real estate and design and have together built and decorated many homes.
Cheryl Dulong, who works at the property, provided these wonderful photographs of the garden tour.
1 Bill and Becky Johnson, Elizabeth Johnson, David and Amanda Murrell, Michael and Alison Brewer, Scott and Beth McNew, Jan Harwood, and Deirdre Warren came to Skylands for a garden tour. Here they are at the front door.
2 Michael Brewer won a garden tour of Skylands at last year's Lobsters on the Sound, which benefits the Harbor House in Southwest Harbor.
3 Bill & Becky Johnson — This year's Lobster on the Sound benefit will take place on August 7th at John Williams Boat Company in Hall Quarry. The event offers cocktails and hors d'oeuvres from local restaurants, a lobster bake, auctions, and music.
4 Also along for the tour was Yukiko Mayai and Tim Janes, from Deco Clay Craft. They helped develop the Martha Stewart Crafts Clay Kits found at Michael's. http://www.decoclay.com/
5 Yukiko was a guest on the Mother's Day episode of the Martha Stewart Show this year. The couple lives in Honolulu, Hawaii, and I invited them to tour both my property in Bedford as well as Skylands before their journey home.
6 Mike Harding, my gardener at Skylands (left) gave the tour.
7 Guests gather near the counsel circle with Mike. The pathway is covered in pine needles.
8 The counsel circle also has a fire pit, excellent for entertaining outside on brisk nights.
9 The cutting garden is growing quite well this year. Mike has been keeping the beds neat and weed free.
10 Elizabeth Johnson posing with her mother, Becky, in the cutting garden
11 Mike also took them through the vegetable garden.
12 One of my favorite sculptures on the grounds is this one by Aristide Maillol, called La Riviere. It rests in a bed of moss and ferns.
13 Tim taking a photo of one of the sphinx statues that guards the living room entrance.
14 I bought this pair of glazed terra-cotta sphinxes at an art gallery auction.
15 They were designed by the French 19th century artist, Emile Muller, who created enameled clay for decorative use.
16 Continuing the tour down the stone step walkways
17 Mike then took the group to the stables.
18 Hanging from the stable rafters are morning glories. They are named as such because the blooms open in the early morning and begin to fade as the day goes on.
19 Fortunately, the group were able to witness them in full bloom. I love the gentle touches of purple on the edges of some of the flowers.
20 Tim and Yukiko in front of the view
21 A nice shot of the tour group posing in front of the entrance to the Great Hall.
22 Above them is the amazing sundial which is marked 1925 AD.
23 The view off the terrace from inside the house displays both the water and thriving terrace garden.
24 Trumpet lilies are in full bloom right now. This type of lily is quite fragrant.
25 A close-up view of one of these spectacular flowers
26 Many trumpet lilies are night-fragrant, which means they mainly release their scent primarily in the evening.
27 Lilies are characterized by six tepals and large, pronounced stamens.
28 I also have many of these beautiful hanging oriental lilies at my home in Bedford.
29 This bumblebee certainly got his fill of pollen from this Holyhock blossom.
30 A look off the terrace to the water, with one of my agave plants to the right
31 In mid June, I planted these alocasias, also called elephant ear, in my large Soderholtz pots. They are doing very well.
32 Lovely refreshments of iced tea and lemon cookies were provided at the end of the tour on the west terrace.
33 Ferns hang from the inside of the pergola.
34 Alison and Michael Brewer, relaxing with iced tea
35 The group posing on the terrace
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