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
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
Those Blessed people...to be able to take a private tour of your gardens. I hope they got a tour inside, also.
My power went out right in the middle of "my tour", and I thought I wouldn't get to finish, but within a couple of minutes, I was back on the tour.
Way back in the day, I had a couple of uncles, one from each side of the family, who called me Morning Glory, because of my name. Every time I see a Morning Glory, I think of them.
Thank you for our tour.
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | July 25th, 2012 at 12:32 am
nice photos..!
Posted by: LOLA | July 25th, 2012 at 12:34 am
Great photos.
Posted by: ann | July 25th, 2012 at 1:37 am
How lovely of you Martha auctioning off a garden tour of Skylands for Harbour House. Michael and Allison Brewer and company look very excited to be there, I would be too! How fun to see Yukiko again. I remember her on your Mother's Day show. The gardens at Skylands are beautiful and I enjoyed the photos of your sphinxes, how unusual! By the way, I never thought to hang morning glories, thanks for the idea!
Posted by: Cindy F | July 25th, 2012 at 8:00 am
We had such a wonderful time touring Skylands; it was a dream come true! What a lovely property, gorgeous weather, and perfect group with whom to enjoy it:-)
Posted by: Beth McNew | July 25th, 2012 at 9:00 am
I love your morning glories. What support do you give them, so that they climb up the posts?
Posted by: Helen K. | July 25th, 2012 at 10:09 am
Martha,
Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | July 25th, 2012 at 10:14 am
Hi Martha, OMG! What a thoughtful Idea to offer a garden tour of your beautiful Skylands home! Not only does this provide a delightful tour for Michael and Allison Brewer, but the nine other friends sure look like they had a great tour provided by your gardner, Mike Harding! He kind of reminds me of your great tour guy at Bedford , Shaun! How thoughtful of Cheryl Dulong, who works at the property and she also did a great job! I absolutely love all of these photos! That Harbor House sure sounds like a great place where they provide so much for adults and children at Mount Desert Island! Thanks for sharing these two websites, Lobsters on the Sound event and Harbor House! Both provide some great information! Thanks again for sharing this fantastic blog and please thank Mike and Cheryl for doing such a great job!! Thanks so much for your tweets today! Sounds like you are having a great time again! Off to see The Daily Wag featuring "Rose of Sharon on the pergola!" Sure hope you have another delightful day! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | July 25th, 2012 at 10:25 am
Hi Martha,
What a great opportunity for these lucky people - I can't think of a better way to spend a day except maybe a tour of Bedford! Thanks for sharing. Trish
Posted by: Trish | July 25th, 2012 at 11:17 am
I really enjoy the garden tours!
Why do you say counsel circle rather than council circle?
Posted by: jw | July 25th, 2012 at 12:19 pm
They call trumpet lillies "Stargazer Lillies" in Denver. I love the fragrance and they last almost 2 weeks as a cut flower.
Posted by: Kandy Maharas | July 25th, 2012 at 2:51 pm
I do wish you would have a series on home canning and perserving foods. With all of the fruit you have on your land and the veggies, todays young people are wanting to eat better, save money, and grow their own foods. I can remember back in the day on your earlier shows you made things like that. That is how I got my starting interest into making my own Jams, Jellies and perserves. In fact I just put up Zucchini Relish yesterday for the first time, I learned it on you tube. I am a hands on learner. Think about it PLEASE...Martha
Posted by: Pat Prettyman | July 25th, 2012 at 10:28 pm
Your hanging morning glories are just beautiful! Also the lilies. What a treat to to see your gardens and grounds. The view is amazing.
Posted by: Clarice | July 26th, 2012 at 12:11 am
I grew up with elephants ears, in Johannesburg, South Africa - will you need to bring that planter in come the fall? I live in Boston now, and am curious if I would be able to grow my own elephant ears, too!
Posted by: Kirstey | July 26th, 2012 at 4:41 pm