Cynthia Hosmer, York, ME

Cynthia Hosmer has been an Open Days garden host since 2003. Brave Boat Harbor Farm, her property on the coast of Maine, is 300 years old and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has been in Cynthia’s family since 1949 and the gardens have been evolving over the last 50 years. Her mother-in-law established the original “bones” of the garden and Cynthia describes her own role as “nurturing, enhancing, and preparing it for the next generation.” Formal and informal borders, a vegetable garden, orchards, and collections of various flowering trees and shrubs surround and complement a Georgian-style stone house. Apples and pears are espaliered on the house and along the walls of the formal front garden. Water plays a key role, too. There is a newly expanded pond in the woodland garden, a farm pond with rustic bridge, and majestic views of the Atlantic Ocean.

“One does not own a garden. One listens, looks, and absorbs what the landscape has to say.”

@braboat4me