Garden Fair & Native Plant Sale with Show Gardens (6/6, 7 & 8 all day) and a 6/5 Preview Party (evening) - Overview
A Garden Fair Overview
Ready for something new and exciting? From Friday through Sunday, June 6-8, rain or shine, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens will present its first-ever Garden Fair.
This multifaceted outdoor event takes inspiration from the world’s best and most famous flower shows and garden fairs, including Chelsea and Philadelphia, while remaining true to our Maine heritage.
The Garden Fair is free with regular admission, although there will be a small fee for some of the education workshops. There is plentiful free parking available at the Boothbay Fire Department on Route 27, with free shuttle buses running to the Gardens and Garden Fair every few minutes.
Here are some exciting features of the Garden Fair.
Display Gardens: Eight whimsical children’s gardens will be created by fine New England landscape architects and designers, selected through a jury process and eligible for awards. Appropriately, these display gardens will be constructed on the site of the future Children’s Garden.
Workshops, Talks, and Keynote Speakers: Nearby will be a tent where we’ll present a series of programs focusing on native plants, container gardening, stone features, new introductions, and perennial garden design. In a second, larger tent on our Cleaver Event Lawn, we will host nationally recognized keynote speakers daily, including Paul Tukey and Bill Cullina. Click on June 6, June 7, or June 8 to see the full schedule for each day.
Native Plant Sale (Friday through Sunday): This well-timed sale will feature thousands of specially selected native plants. The sale is free and open to the public, except on Friday morning, when Gardens members will have “first dibs” on the plants from 9-noon. For a list of native plants that will be on sale at the Garden Fair, please send an email to nativeplantlist@mainegardens.org.
Gardens Marketplace: We’ve invited quality vendors from as far away as Pennsylvania to offer garden-related products in a retail marketplace on the Great Lawn. See the bottom of this page for a list of vendors.
Expanded Food Service: Our own Kitchen Garden Café will expand operations, providing delicious food in a garden setting.
Organizations’ Displays: A small area will be dedicated to exhibits by non-profit organizations that focus on plants, the environment, and other related subjects.
Flower Show: Inside the Visitor Center will be an invitational exhibit of flowers and plants submitted by professional florists, amateurs, and even school children. This show will be judged by Garden Club of America and National Garden Club judges, and entrants will be awarded ribbons.
Gardens Marketplace Vendors
The photo above is by Paula Norton, courtesy of the Cincinnati Flower Show.
Date/Time: June 6 - 8, 9:00 a.m - 4:00 p.m.
Location: Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens