Asticou Azalea Garden
The Asticou Azalea Garden in Northeast Harbor, Maine is a beautiful place to visit.
Asticou Azalea Garden was created in 1956 by lifelong Maine resident, Charles Kenneth Savage, who was inspired by his love of native plants and his study of Japanese garden design. The Garden and its pond are open to the public from May to October each year. Styled after a Japanese stroll garden, Asticou features a wonderful selection of rhododendrons and azaleas, a sand garden, and a meandering collection of fine gravel pathways.
I have visited Asticou Azalea Garden many times and now enjoy my time there with my grandchildren - it is truly a lovely place. Enjoy these photos, and please read "The Rhodora" by American writer, Ralph Waldo Emerson.
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- Asticou Azalea Garden was built for quiet enjoyment, and intended for relaxation and contemplation. Visit the web site for more information. http://gardenpreserve.org/index.html
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- The pond looks so serene. This view is looking west from the south lawn. Here you can see a white Spiraea x cinerea ‘Grefsheim’, several crabapples nearly open and a Rhododendron yedoense var. poukhanense, which is colored pink.
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- The collection of rhododendrons at the garden contains some very old specimens. Some of them were transplanted to the garden after being removed from the Bar Harbor estate of acclaimed landscape architect, Beatrix Farrand in 1956. Here is Rhododendron yedoense var. poukhanense.
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- Jude and Truman enjoy visiting Asticou – there is always so much for them to see.
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- This is Chaenomeles x superba ‘Cameo’ – a double flowered Quince. Blooming a little later than most Quinces, ‘Cameo’ produces large, semidouble flowers of a clear, peachy coral pink. They show up splendidly against glossy green foliage.
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- Here is Rhododendron ‘Spellbinder’. It was planted 20-years ago, and is just blooming for the first time this year. Everyone at the garden is overjoyed.
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- Rhododendron canadense, Rhodora, is a native of northeastern North America, It s a deciduous flowering shrub that produces pinkish-purple flowers in clusters of two to six together.
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- From this vantage point, one can see an Acer ‘Schwedleri’, the red foliaged Norway Maple on the left, a Cercidiphyllum japonicum, the Katsura tree in the center, a Spiraea x cinerea ‘Grefsheim’ shrub with white blooms by the pond, and an Acer ‘Crimson King’ – the red foliaged tree on the right.
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- This is a Rhododendron schlippenbachii, ‘Royal Azalea’ – a species native to the Korean Peninsula and regions of Manchuria. This is a dense deciduous shrub with white to pink flowers and often, small red spots on the upper three petals. The ‘Royal Azalea’ has fragrant, pink blooms in spring. It grows well in temperate climates with adequate rain and prefers full sun.
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- This tall leaning tree, Pinus strobus, the native white pine, is an example of cloud pruning, or niwaki, where certain limbs are removed to create a unique form. Niwaki is the Japanese word for ‘garden trees’ and used often to describe “sculpting trees”. Below is a Rhododendron schlippenbachii, the Royal Azalea, on the left, and Rhododendron vaseyi, the Pink Shell Azalea, on the right.
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- Taxus cuspidata var. nana from Reef Point. It is a dwarf, compact, wide-spreading Japanese yew which typically grows very slowly to about four-feet tall by six-feet wide over the first 10-years.
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- Rhododendron ‘Pohjola’s Daughter’ with ostrich ferns behind it. ‘Pohjola’s Daughter’ is a Finnish hybrid that was bred to have broad evergreen leaves, large showy flowers, and very hardy flower buds.
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- Lovely stone planters are positioned around the garden also look very Japanese.
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- Here is a beech fern, Phegopteris connectilis with Bishop’s Hat, Epimedium x rubrum.
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- This is a Paeonia daurica, a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the peony family. It has slender carrot-shaped roots and leaves mostly consisting of nine leaflets, with one flower per stem.
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- Fothergilla gardenii is a moisture loving, acid soil requiring compact shrub. It displays showy white and green flowers in mid-spring. This does well in full sun to full shade. It’s tolerant of wet sites but not of dry conditions partially because of its shallow root systems. The genus name of this plant, Fothergill, honors John Fothergill, a Quaker physician from England who introduced and promoted a lot of plants to the UK that were native to the US.
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- Rhododendron yedoense var. poukhanense ‘Compacta’ – a Korean azalea which typically grows three to six-feet tall with an eight to 12-foot spread. It is evergreen in mild winters, but deciduous in cold winter climates.
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- This “sand garden” built along the eastern edge of the stream, uses rocks and raked sand to suggest islands surrounded by flowing water. The sandy area is offered to visitors as places for quiet contemplation.
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- Gardens of raked sand and stone are referred to as karesansui, which means dry landscape, gardens in Japan.
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- The “sand garden” was inspired in size to the celebrated garden of Ryoan-ji in Kyoto, dating from about 1480. Ryoan-ji is a Zen temple in Japan. The garden is considered one of the finest surviving examples of karensansui, or dry landscape.
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- Benches are strategically placed throughout the garden, so visitors may also sit and reflect.
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- Here is another stone vessel – I love the repeating designs.
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- Quaint stone steps allow visitors to cross the stream.
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- One of the garden’s main attractions is its balance of natural and man made beauty. The combination of natural vegetation, stones and water, along with the plantings create a wonderful blend of the east and west. Looking East across the Pond – Lonicera xylosteum, a honeysuckle, on the right. and unopened buds of Rhododendron yedoense var. poukhanense on the left.
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- Kevin hopped onto this rock, and the children tried to follow. It was a fun visit for all of us. I encourage you to visit Asticou whenever you are in this area – you will love it.
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