Marcelia Berry and Elizabeth Peterson were the first club members to respond to Parker's ad in the newspaper. Ruth Pitzele, a long-time resident of Cape Elizabeth, drew the garden design that continues to dazzle tourists. The garden Pitzele designed has some low-growing annuals up front. Several of the many flowers in the garden include Shasta daisies, cone flowers, various lavenders, alyssum, and Stella de Oro daylilies. There are Asiatic lilies for accent, and a white rugosa rose.
Nobody knows how long the rose has grown in the garden.
It was there when the lighthouse was decommissioned, and probably much longer. Of all the plants in the garden, we get more questions about the rugosa rose than any other,'' says Pitzele. They think it's an apple tree, and the hips red apples. Many visitors have never seen lupine either. Although it's spring-blooming, the plant piques their interest even in summer, when its seed pods split to reveal large black seeds.