This is Asticou Pond on Sunday afternoon; it’s a focal point for the famous Asticou Azalea Garden on Mount Desert Island. The Garden is at its most tranquil in late August and early September. Now is the time, for those so inclined, to seek peace there by immersing quietly into the Garden’ while its beauty rests.

This period of late summer calm is entirely different from the Garden’s colorful energy in the spring, when seemingly millions of azalea and other rhododendron blooms compete to see which can out-dazzle which. This late-summer time of year also is not like the poignant fall, when the glowing foliage in the Garden makes us finally realize that our love affair with summer is over.

Now, there are only a few plants in bloom in the Garden, just enough to remind us that summer is leaving with a smile. The Japanese anemones seem to say goodbye best:

But the fragrant water lilies that are rampant in the Garden’s Lily Pond are a close second:

So, if you are within range, think about visiting the Garden now as well as in the fall. It will be open seven days a week through October 30 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. No reservations are needed and no fee is charged, although a contribution of $5.00 per person is asked of those who can afford it.

(Images taken in Northeast Harbor, Maine, on August 28,2022.)

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