174 Ocean House Road, Cape Elizabeth
History: The Browns purchased the property 43 years ago, having long admired the 1932 cottage. With their own garden design and landscaping company, Taming the Wild, Carol and Basil designed and built all of the garden spaces as well as the garden house (1995). Over the years, they’ve repurposed objects and materials, such as granite curbing and cobblestones from the Commercial Street reconstruction in Portland as well as large stones from a neighbor’s construction project.
Themes: A four-season garden that’s always changing, comprised of a variety of native and unique plants, many of which were obtained by and from customers. Garden rooms have a natural appearance and are low maintenance, with added whimsy from found objects.
Features:
- A spring showcase of yellow flowers, especially basket-of-gold
- Plantings that passersby can enjoy
- Annuals for constant color
- A large selection of evergreen trees and shrubs
- Gates, fencing, and an arbor
- Paths lined with stone and driftwood
- Many wildlife visitors
In Bloom:
- Purple coneflower
- Black-eyed coneflower
- Butterfly milkweed
- Blanket flower
- Black cohosh
- Clematis
- Tall phlox
- Hosta
- Wild geranium
- Beeblossom (Gaura sp.)
- Fan flower (Scaevola sp.)
- Leopard plant (Ligularia sp.)
- New Guinea impatiens
- Coral bells
- Daylily