Hello! Don’t be alarmed, these trolls were nice! We visited the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens on our trip out along the East Coast and it was so much fun. The gardens themselves are extensive and gorgeous, but once I found out there were trolls here to, I had to go. Designed by recycled materials artist, Thomas Dambo, they represent conservation and the importance of the woodlands. He’s from Copenhagen and builds troll sculptures all over the world. Here’s a Trollmap of all of them! https://trollmap.com/#/@38.0452x-85.9454z8.7

The botanical gardens have 5 trolls, however, we were there close to closing time and were only able to see three of them. If we go back though, I want to take a whole day there and see all 5.

These Trolls serve as Guardians of the Seeds and will take you on a mystery maze to find the seeds. Along the way you learn a lot of different things about conservation and the importance of trees. Each troll has something different to teach you and is a keeper to a different part of nature. Let me just say, although it sounds cheesy, it really was special and magical. I thought it was at least, but out of the two of us, I’m definitely more whimsical than the Husband.

Now, may I present the Guardians of the Seeds? I hope you enjoy the journey!

This is Roskva who “stands for the trunks.” Roskva stands taller and grows wider each year as she remembers the seasons and everything that happens around her. She can help you remember if you forget. She seemed melancholy and serious to me, which I can identify with. It’s hard to be a keeper of other peoples’ memories, more so the not so happy ones.

This is Birk. He “holds the roots.” He is the wisest and most mysterious of the trolls at the gardens. He hides in the trees and listens to the soil and the shadows. He knows everything that happens in the wild. Every day he tells the stories he hears to the other forest creatures.

Birk was my favorite. He seemed like you could whisper your secrets to him and he would give you advice. He seemed calm.

Lilja “holds the scent of the flowers”. She is the youngest of the trolls and loves colors. She enjoys the birds, butterflies, and bees as they flit among the flowers. She seemed playful and curious. I think she was also relatively small compared to the other trolls. I loved her too.

The gardens hide two more trolls too- Soren and Gro. Soren is goofy looking and “sticks up for the branches.” He is curious and loves to dance. He is posed in a dynamic dancing pose.

Gro is a wanderer who returns every spring and is posed in a calming yoga pose. She “smiles with the leaves” and makes sure the forest and her tree friends are fed and watered.

Here is the website with the info about the trolls at the Coastal Botanical Gardens, if you want to know more or see the poem that takes you on the treasure hunt. Click on the “Meet Our Trolls” link to see Soren and Gro. https://www.mainegardens.org/events-exhibits/giant-trolls/

In addition to the trolls, the Botanical gardens also has an adaptive garden program and the really cool Lerner 5 Senses garden, which is part of the adaptive garden. I decided to spare you all the extensive list of the rest of the gardens, as some of them will be picture posts coming up, but they are detailed on the website if you wanted to see all of them.

I thought the 5 Senses Garden would fit well with the Trolls, as they are all about slowing down to listen and feel. Each section was designed to be accessible with paved paths and different routes to take. Each section had signs detailing what the sense was, both in words and braille. Here are some pictures from that part of the gardens.

Sight:

This was a flashy moving sculpture piece to go along with all of the other sights of the gardens.

They had really brightly colored plants and plants with contrast too to help people who had difficulty seeing.

Hearing:

For hearing there were some fountain areas. This one in particular had a waterfall edge for even more sensory exploration.

Scent:

Scent was in the kitchen garden section along with touch and taste. They had herbs and veggies and all sorts of plants with scent.

Touch:

The kitchen garden had cut outs for wheelchair users so that they could plant and interact with the gardens as well.

They also had a tactile map which told you where to go for certain things. It was also in Braille. The adaptive garden program went in the touch section as well. I had no idea you could be a horticulture therapist, but apparently it is indeed a thing. We immediately looked up how I could become one, but I don’t know that I can take that on right now, although it would be so cool! It’s like a recreation therapist, but with plants and gardening!

There was also a display of adaptive gardening tools and they had some of them for sale in the Garden Shop.

Taste:

The kitchen garden had all sorts of herbs and veggies.

One whole section was about vertical gardening and how that could be much more accessible for people who maybe didn’t have the ability or the space to be able to garden. They had lovely begonias and other plants in these cool ladder shaped planters. It made a great picture backdrop too, but the Husband said I can’t post that one because he looks silly. 🙂

I think total we spent about three hours or so at the gardens and it would have been so easy to stay for longer. I’ll share more pictures in the Wednesday posts too because I have so many! I hope this post brightens your winter a little bit and brings you a bit of magic and whimsy!