Maine Diaries - Vesper Hill Children's Chapel

During my visit to Maine, my sister took me to Vesper Hill Children’s Chapel a beautiful non-denominational outdoor chapel located in Rockport, Maine. It is located on a rock ledge overlooking Penobscot Bay. It was a gift of Helene Bok.

This chapel is built to the memory of all young people, who have passed through this world and gained God by so doing.
It stands for freedom of thought, prayer and action. It stands for holiness within the heart and wholesomeness within the body, and for God in the heart each waking hour.
May the Lord bless all young people who come here for spiritual and mental refreshment.
Helene Bok

The Garden

There are several garden beds with a variety of early blooming plants and some great foliage plants.

Flowering Plants

VesperHillChildrensChapel-20230512-42 — **Bleeding Hearts** and Thorns

VesperHillChildrensChapel-20230512-36 — **Virginia Bluebells**

VesperHillChildrensChapel-20230512-33 — This was a new flower for me, a Balkan anemone. I need to find one for my garden. There was a white variety too.

VesperHillChildrensChapel-20230512-25 — **Balkan anemone**

Foliage Plants

VesperHillChildrensChapel-20230512-28 — There was a large bed of **Mayapples**, an interesting native plant that is mostly poisonous save for an edible fruit. Timing is everything with this plant which I also have in my garden, so I never took the chance of tasty it, just as I don’t sample random mushrooms. The flower and fruit appear under the leaves where the stem branches.

VesperHillChildrensChapel-20230512-27 — **Bloodroot** is so named because its roots exude a reddish orange sap that can be used as dye. It does produce a white flower.

VesperHillChildrensChapel-20230512-40 — **Epimedium × rubrum**

VesperHillChildrensChapel-20230512-26 — **Periwinkle (Vinca minor)**

I am always on the lookout for ground covers as an alternative to a lawn. Some people see Vinca minor as being too aggressive but I love the way it looks surrounding this tree. I’ve established several patches in my own yard and this inspired me to add more. Note the tree in this photo. I am unable to identify what variety it is. There were several large specimens which have beautiful bark. Here is a better photo.

VesperHillChildrensChapel-20230512-44 — Some kind of Juniper? Cypress?

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Maine Diaries – Vesper Hill Children’s Chapel