DIY Garden Mobiles
Artistic, eye-catching mobiles can add whimsy and natural music to any garden as they catch the wind. Secured to posts, branches, or arbors, these features can reflect light, capture the spirit of a space, and offer depth and vertical interest to any landscape. In this creative craft class, we will make garden mobiles from found and natural objects supplied by instructors Caroline Davis, the Gardens' Coordinator of Botanical Arts and Exhibits, and Irene Barber, Horticultural Therapist and educator. Students are welcome to bring their own found, repurposed, or natural objects to incorporate in their garden mobiles. Please bring a pair of form-fitting work gloves.
To provide safe, in-person classes at the Gardens, classes are held entirely outdoors and have been reduced to 12 people. We are practicing social distance protocols.
Rain Date: Saturday, August 14, 2021
Join horticulturists Diane Walden and Brent McHale on a tour of their container garden designs in the Burpee Kitchen Garden, the Arbor Garden, and the Great Lawn. Learn about the different styles on display, from the organized to the whimsical, the bold to the muted, and the minimalistic to the complex. Diane and Brent will describe the plant varieties providing those stylistic differences and how plant placement can affect the design and overall management throughout the summer.
This registration is for the in-person event, which will take place indoors in our Education Center at 75% capacity. Please note: both 
Abra Lee is a national speaker, writer, and owner of Conquer the Soil, a platform that combines Black garden history and current events to raise awareness of horticulture. She has spent ""a whole lotta time"" in the dirt as a municipal arborist, extension agent, airport landscape manager, and more. Lee is a graduate of Auburn University and alumna of the Longwood Gardens Society of Fellows, a global network of public horticulture professionals.
Interested in gardening with ornamental grasses, but aren’t sure if you’re ready to commit or how to apply them in a garden? At Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, we have a plethora of ornamental native and non-native grasses through which Syretha Brooks, gardener and garden designer, will guide you. By studying the variety of shapes, sizes, textures, and colors, students will clearly understand how to use grasses effectively in perennial gardens or naturalized settings. Discussion will include grass management, cultivation, and habits. 
Seeds are miracles of the plant world – a lot of power packed into a small case that sustains nature’s biodiversity. Former horticulturist and lead propagator of Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary and native seed specialist, Leslie Duthie, will guide students through the process of growing meadow plants from seed. Whether you’d like to convert a lawn into a mini meadow-scape, diversify an existing field, or start a large-scale meadow from scratch, Leslie will share the secrets of making meadows succeed. Using the palette of the Gardens’ naturalized areas, discussion will include seed collection, storage, and plant selection as pertaining to the environmental conditions of a setting.
Deepening your connection to nature through moving meditation offers enormous benefits for personal well-being. Follow Susan Bickford, forest therapy guide for the ancient Japanese practice, Shinrin Yoku, or forest bathing, as she gives you the tools to begin your own meditation practice. In this gentle class, experience how the simple practice of walking mindfully through a forest can provide deep serenity. By engaging with the forest with all five senses, we enhance awareness and presence. Despite a busy lifestyle, taking time for ourselves is enormously important—what luck that we can do so by walking in the forest! 
Our Northeastern forest genera consists of a wide assortment of deciduous and coniferous species that vary throughout the macro- and micro-climatic regions of Maine. Understanding these species helps inform landowners about management, the local ecology, soils, and successional development. Join us and learn how to identify many of Maine's forest trees and about concepts like silvaculture and climate adaptive species. Autumn is the perfect time for this exploration—beyond the natural spectacle, the range of fall colors provides Allysa Gregory, Maine District Forester, the perfect palette by which to explain trees and their color choices. Leave feeling more connected to our forests and confident in identifying trees in your area.
The Photography Club meets every other Thursday morning at the Gardens, 7-9 a.m. Enjoy having the whole of our campus to yourself for two hours before we open to the public. Come and capture the stunning morning light, May-October. You must be a member of the Gardens to enjoy this amazing perk. The first meeting of the year is Thursday, May 12.
Set up your easel and paint or sketch at the Gardens for free! Enjoy glorious spring weather and capture some brilliant color. The event is a bit earlier this year, and thinner crowds mean artists can spread out and enjoy the tulips and daffodils. There is no charge for entry, but you must pre-register for this event. You may attend one or all of our plein air days.
