Take time to smell the flowers during annual garden tours throughout Maine. While most tours occur on only one day each summer, a few are spread out over the season. Hint: Buy tickets in advance, when possible, as they usually are less expensive (but do note that tours are usually rain or shine, so you take your chances on the weather).
Updating for 2025 is in progress. Updated March 5, 2025
2025 Maine Garden Tours
McLaughlin Garden Annual Lilac Festival
What: View more than 125 different varieties and more than 200 lilacs. Tour on your own or join the 11 am Lilac Care Guided Tour led by horticulturist. See site for other festival activities.
When: May 23-26, 2025; 10am-4pm
Cost: $5 admission
2025 Woodfords Community Garden Tour
What: Tour more than 10 gardens on a self-guided tour of gardens throughout the Woodfords Corner Community: Back Cove, Deering Highlands, Oakdale, and Deering Center.
When: June 7, 2025; 1-4pm (June 8 rain date)
Cost: $20 donation is suggested, but pay what you can.
Peony Society of Maine Garden Tour
What: details to come.
When: June 14, 2025; 10am-3pm
Cost:$5 donation per guest appreciated; benefits Peony Society efforts to educate and propagate.
What else: Tour of four gardens begins at 1348 Ohio St., Bangor.
Note: If you’re a peony lover, the society is holding its 25th Anniversary Victorian Tea Party Celebration on June 21, 2035, from 1-4pm in Orono. Tickets for nonmembers are $35pp before April 15 and $45pp after April 15.
Belfast Open Garden Days
What: One garden in greater Belfast is open on Saturdays, rain or shine
When: 10am-4pm Saturdays, June 14, 21, 28; July 5, 12, 19, 26; August. 2, 16, 2025
Cost: $5 suggested donation per garden or season ticket for $35; a check or exact change is appreciated. Proceeds benefit maintenance of 12 local public gardens and scholarships for Waldo County students studying horticulture and related subjects.
What else: No restrooms at gardens. No dogs. Photography allowed only with permission.
Celia Thaxter’s Garden Tours on Appledore Island
What: Walking tour of the restored garden of 19th-century poet and writer Celia Thaxter, author of An Island Garden.
When: June 27, 28; July 5,11,12, 18, 19, 25, 26; August. 1, 2, 2025
Cost: $130, includes parking, round-trip transportation from New Castle, N.H., guided tour, and buffet lunch.
What else: Participants access the island via a 45-minute cruise aboard a research vessel and, once on the island, walk 2-3 miles over rugged terrain. Reservations must be made at least 2 weeks in advance, and each tour is limited to 33 participants.
Open Days at Garland Farm, Bar Harbor
What: Garland Farm, the ancestral home of Lewis Garland, property manager for landscape architect Beatrix Farrand’s famed Reef Point property, and Farrand’s home and gardens. Farrand moved here after dismantling Reef Point in 1955, and worked with architect Robert Patterson to design the addition where she lived, utilizing some of the architectural pieces and furnishings she saved. The house, library, and garden are open to visitors for guided house and self-guided garden tours as follows.
When: TBA
Cost: $5 donation
Hidden Gardens of Historic Bath
What: 19th annual self-guided tour of gardens in Bath
When: June 14, 2025; 10am-2pm
Cost: $TBA; benefits Sagadahoc Preservation, Inc.
What else: This year’s tour will feature gardens in Bath’s South End
The Garden Conservancy Beckett Castle Open Garden Day
What: Self-guided tour of Beckett Castle Rose Garden in Cape Elizabeth. This oceanfront garden comprises more than 70 varieties of heirloom roses. A 50-foot-high stone tower entry gate doubles as a rose arbor. Sylvester Beckett built the neo-Gothic house in 1871.
When: June 28, 2025; 1-4pm
Cost: $TBA
What else: Visitors should wear sturdy shoes and expect uneven terrain and unpaved paths. They must traverse an upward slope to exit the garden. The property is home to Hogfish, a nonprofit regenerative arts movement. Live music will be performed during the day.
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden Open Garden Days
What: Self-guided tour of the Walled Garden and The Eyrie Terrace, the former home site of John D. Jr. and Abby Rockefeller, Seal Harbor, on Mount Desert Island. (Note: This is one of my favorite Maine garden tours)
When: July 8-Sept. 7, 2025; noon-4pm Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday for public; reservations open May 20. Members can schedule visits noon-4pm Friday and Sunday; member reservations open May 6).
Cost: $TBA; reservations open in early May.
What else: Membership in the Land and Garden Preserve has benefits worth checking out; rates begin at $50 ($25 ages 65+, full-time students, year-round MDI residents, and active military). Check out the perks, such as free or very discounted passes), and consider joining for early access to reservations, even if you’re only visiting briefly.
Camden House and Garden Tour
What: Annual tour presented by the Camden Garden Club for more than 75 years.
When: July 17, 2025, 9am-4pm.
Cost: $TBA
What else:
Boothbay Region in Full Bloom
What: Self-guided, mapped walking tour at Ocean at Ocean Point featuring six cottages and the Wilson Chapel. Morning and afternoon sessions available.
When: July 18, 9am-12:30pm and 12:30-4pm
Cost: $40 in advance; benefits scholarships for advanced education in ecology, marine biology, horticulture, botany, and earth sciences as well as YMCA Camperships for local children.
What else: Also planned are a food truck, arts and crafts, and music.
Bar Harbor Garden Club Tour: Gardens by the Sea
What: Visit five Bar Harbor gardens
When: July 19, 2025; 10am-4pm
Cost: $TBA advance only (available in June); benefits island nonprofits protecting natural resources, addressing food insecurity, and fostering dedication to horticulture among youth.
What else: Free parking and shuttle service.
Brunswick in Bloom Garden Tour
What: self-guided garden tour of 8 private gardens
When: July 19, 2025, 10am-3pm
Cost: $35, available online
What else: This year features a Build-A-Bouquet Station ($20). Also available to purchase: A Sea Bags Bloom bag and wristlet (from $60), and Garden Tour poster ($20). Benefits free medical and dental services provided by Oasis Free Clinics.
Cape Elizabeth Garden Tour
What: Self-guided tour viewing gardens highlighting wildlife habitats and native plants
When: July 19, 2025; 9am-4pm
Cost: $TBA, available online; benefits Friends of Fort Williams Park.
Wiscasset Homes on Tour
What: Historical private homes in Wiscasset village and the surrounding area
When: Sat. Oct. 18, 2025, 11am-4pm
Cost: $30 + processing fee. Available online in advance or on the day of the tour.
What else: Fee includes tea in the garden; a picnic lunch will be available.
Previous Maine Garden Tours (awaiting 2025 info)
Secret Gardens of the Kennebunks
What: Tour six private gardens in a wide variety of styles and plantings. a pop-up garden boutique and lunch from the Texas Grace food truck will be available.
When: July 13, 2024; 10am-3pm
Cost: $40 in advance online or at the library, day-of tix available at Kennebunk Consolidated School; benefits Graves Memorial Public Library.
What else: Begin at Kennebunkport Consolidated School (24 School St.), get a details map and instructions.
Garden Club of Mount Desert Open Garden Day
What: Tour six gorgeous gardens in Seal Harbor
When: Saturday, July 27, 2024 10am-4pm
Cost: $50, tickets available May 1
What else: benefits nonprofit organizations promoting horticulture and/or conservation projects.
Castine House and Garden Tour
What: Tour homes and gardens in the village.
When: held every few years
Cost: $XX; benefits Castine Historical Society.
*****
Gardens Aglow
What: Holiday light extravaganza at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens
When: mid-November to late-December.
Cost: XX adult, XX ages 3-17, $XX age 65+, $XX family including 2 adults and 2 children; for specific date and time. Also available are premium flex tickets, valid whenever garden is open: $XX adult, $XX child, $XX senior, $XX family.
What else: It’s truly worth planning a visit around this annual event, which coincides with Boothbay Lights.
*****
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