If you’ve seen even just one of Childe Hassam’s brilliant paintings in the NCMA's American Impressionist exhibition, then you’ll know that Appledore Island’s timeless blooms—seen through Hassam’s eyes—are transporting. Transporting to another time when poetess and perennial salonnière Celia Thaxter played hostess to a circle of 19th-century creatives from her seasonal home in Maine’s Isles of Shoals.
Celia’s summertime salon on remote Appledore Island was renowned not only for its cerebral conversation and elite guest list, but also for its inspiring natural environs: a breezy coastline, rocky seaside outcroppings, and of course, her garden. Her garden brimming with color: poppies, mignonette, hollyhock.