It ’s Sunday first light in the cheeseparing - coastal Ithiel Town of Kennebunk Maine , in a section known as ‘ Lower Village ’ . Kennebunk , once the town of flush sea captains , ocean merchants , and known more for it ’s Wedding Cake house than it ’s garden centerfield , it is now the less sister to Kennebunkport ( where I pass summers as a kid ) . Before you hit the gang , lobster rolls and dealings of Kennebunkport , why not stop and visit the peaceful and hideaway - like garden and practical escapism of Sung Harbor Farm . cull up some rare gourds , or perhaps a hand made garden pot .
This is a such a special seat . The variety we plant lovers crave , and only rarely find out . Walk amongst Pleached Hedges , the Topiary , the heirloom vegetables , the peafowl the gatherer fuchsia , helping hand - thrown clayware for the garden- all of this cautiously make and curated by owner and garden designer Tony Elliott , intelligibly a talented and well - informed plant person . If Linnaeus shopped here , it would n’t be long before there was an Antonius magnifageekii ssp . curatoriata .
All PHOTO BY SUSAN COSTELLO UNLESS NOTED
Thanks to gent blog reader , and photographerSusan Costellowho shared with me most of these ikon ( except two from their web log ) , I now have discoveredSnug Harbor Farm , in Lower Kennebunk Village , in Maine . Only rarely does one regain the perfect recipe of style , botanic geekness and quality design- clearly the owner know much , much more than just how to squeeze congius pots of mums around on pitch-black green goddess - block textile . The American Garden Center is changing , ( not tight ) , but the few who have the vision , guts and knowledge will go up chop-chop to the top .
A Modern consumer demand more , and sometime less . They want more style , more personality , more crying planting , or they are more knowledgable and expect false hellebore in spring , and some at Christmas too . To add up it up , todays garden center client is much more complex . sure enough , there will always be the need for profligate , insistent disposable material like the most common of yearly and seasonal display fabric like bushel basket mamma , but those are now well encounter at the big box stores . Even my local ace market place has dwarf purple fall asters and white pumpkin . If you want heirloom speckled hungarian pumpkins and brilliant violet or clean berried Callicarpa shrubs , you will still need to go to the specialist nursery . Snug Harbor Farm is in private own , and open up most every day of the year . It caters to the more informed client , the one who want manus train topiary , the one who appreciates rarefied cultivars and perfectly curated objet ’s for the garden . This is a place where it is not uncommon to see plash hornbeam hedges like those see at Versailles , or rare breed of poultry and Peafowl , and greenhouses carry with meticulously tide rows of mitt - trim topiary myrtle in hand - thrown terra cotta potentiometer . you’re able to almost imagine Alan Haskel veer by in a gold cart , scotch in hand . If only he could have lived to see the fresh time to come of garden centre the like ofTerrainand Snug Harbor Farm .
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