Asticou Azalea Garden
Encyclopedia
The Asticou Azalea Garden in Northeast Harbor
, Maine
, United States, is a popular visitor attraction. It was created by lifelong resident of the village, Charles Kenneth Savage, in 1956. Savage also created Reef Point Estate
in nearby Bar Harbor
. It was from Reef Point that several specimen
s, with the financial assistance of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
, were moved, including the weeping hemlock
, just north of the main bridge.
Located at the intersection of Route 198 and Route 3
(Peabody Drive), the Garden and its pond are open to the public during daylight hours from May 1 to October 31. It features a selection of rhododendron
s and azalea
s, including the Rhododendron canadense
, Maine's native azalea. Styled after a Japanese stroll garden, the fine-gravel
paths are raked regularly in a manner that suggests flowing water. There is also a sand garden, where this effect is repeated but with the addition of stones, which are meant to represent islands.
Savage was also the owner of the Asticou Inn, which is located on the opposite side of Peabody Drive. Group photographs for weddings at the inn are often taken in the Garden.
A selection of the plants on display can be seen here, while the birds that can be seen or heard at the Garden are listed here.
Northeast Harbor, Maine
Northeast Harbor is a village on Mount Desert Island, located in the town of Mount Desert in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The village has a significant summer population, and has long been a quiet enclave of the rich and famous. Summer residents include the Rockefeller family, as well as...
, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, United States, is a popular visitor attraction. It was created by lifelong resident of the village, Charles Kenneth Savage, in 1956. Savage also created Reef Point Estate
Reef Point Estate
Reef Point Estate is located in Bar Harbor, Maine, USA, on Mount Desert Island. Reef Point was the coastal “cottage” of Mary Cadwalder Rawle and Frederic Rhinelander Jones, the parents of landscape architect, Beatrix Farrand .-Reef Point:...
in nearby Bar Harbor
Bar Harbor, Maine
Bar Harbor is a town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population is 5,235. Bar Harbor is a famous summer colony in the Down East region of Maine. It is home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory and Mount Desert Island...
. It was from Reef Point that several specimen
Laboratory specimen
In medicine, a laboratory specimen is a medical sample, that is, gathered matter of a medical patient's tissue, fluid, or other material derived from the patient used for laboratory analysis to assist differential diagnosis or staging of a disease process...
s, with the financial assistance of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
John Davison Rockefeller, Jr. was a major philanthropist and a pivotal member of the prominent Rockefeller family. He was the sole son among the five children of businessman and Standard Oil industrialist John D. Rockefeller and the father of the five famous Rockefeller brothers...
, were moved, including the weeping hemlock
Tsuga
Tsuga is a genus of conifers in the family Pinaceae. The common name hemlock is derived from a perceived similarity in the smell of its crushed foliage to that of the unrelated plant poison hemlock....
, just north of the main bridge.
Located at the intersection of Route 198 and Route 3
Maine State Route 3
State Route 3 is part of Maine's system of numbered state highways, running from Interstate 95 exit 113 in Augusta to an intersection with Route 102 in the village of Somesville in the town of Mount Desert, on Mount Desert Island...
(Peabody Drive), the Garden and its pond are open to the public during daylight hours from May 1 to October 31. It features a selection of rhododendron
Rhododendron
Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...
s and azalea
Azalea
Azaleas are flowering shrubs comprising two of the eight subgenera of the genus Rhododendron, Pentanthera and Tsutsuji . Azaleas bloom in spring, their flowers often lasting several weeks...
s, including the Rhododendron canadense
Rhododendron canadense
Rhododendron canadense is a deciduous flowering shrub that is native to northeastern North America. The wild distribution of the rhodora begins at its easternmost extreme in Canada in Labrador and extends into eastern Ontario and the United States, where it has its most famous home in New England...
, Maine's native azalea. Styled after a Japanese stroll garden, the fine-gravel
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
paths are raked regularly in a manner that suggests flowing water. There is also a sand garden, where this effect is repeated but with the addition of stones, which are meant to represent islands.
Savage was also the owner of the Asticou Inn, which is located on the opposite side of Peabody Drive. Group photographs for weddings at the inn are often taken in the Garden.
A selection of the plants on display can be seen here, while the birds that can be seen or heard at the Garden are listed here.