St. Michaels is a maritime community located on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. The low-key luxury hotel, the Inn at Perry Cabin , is a favorite for sailing enthusiasts and a it's also a great get-away for plant lovers.

The master gardener, Joanne Effinger, has created a sort of garden adventure of the grounds. Unexpected rose bushes, thickets of oak-leafed hydrangea, and bold mixes of edibles and ornamentals, annuals and perennials make these grounds a destination in themselves.

She starts these sweetpeas early in the greenhouse, and then swaps them out by mid-summer for a different display.

A fearless mix of annuals and perennials.

The lovely greenhouse. It's fairly new, about 7 years old but feels slightly Victorian.

The Kitchen Garden has herbs, lettuces and artichokes planted around formal boxwood hedges.

She combines lots of edibles with ornamental plants. Here's a striking rainbow chard and baby's breath.

Huge clusters of oak-leafed hydrangea and catmint are planted throughout the grounds.

Roses at dusk