Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

Ornamental grasses and Purple Coneflower (Echinacea, hybrid); arbor and pergola of the Rose and Perennial Garden in distance; Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, with 248 acres (1 km2) and a mile of waterfront in the mid-coast town of Boothbay, is Maine's first and only botanical garden. After 16 years (founded 1991) of planning, building and planting, in 2007 the Gardens opened to the public with numerous ornamental and theme gardens and a shingle-style Visitor Center. It is set in a natural landscape of forest, ledge, and native plants. The most-recent addition to the main campus is the Bosarge Family Education Center, which opened July 15, 2011. The two-wing structure surrounded by zoned landscaping with native plants, "rain gardens" and other sustainable elements, is being hailed as the greenest public building in Maine. It earned the highest platinum LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) rating, and is targeted to reach net-zero-energy status, indicating that it generates more energy than it uses. Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (accessed 7/22/2012)