In Full Bloom
This month, the largest botanical garden in New England blossoms at last on the Boothbay shore.
By Rebecca Martin Evarts
n 1991, a group of a half-dozen midcoast plant enthusiasts and nursery owners, possessing neither land nor money, decided that what northern New England most needed was a botanical garden. And not just any old specimen would do. From the beginning, says founder Claire Hunt, "We wanted to create a jewel that would fit into the Maine landscape." They envisioned a garden of at least a hundred acres with parts left in their natural state, yet so rigorously documented that it could achieve museum classification, the highest horticultural standard.
