Posies of Provincetown

People live in relatively tight quarters in the bustling town at the tip of Cape Cod.  There's just not a lot of space in Provincetown, yet gardens abound.  Sometimes it's just a container or two, a narrow street-side bed, but some sort of leafy whimsy, a dash of bright blooms in a window box, or a full blown garden, where possible, seems important to most residents of this densely packed, seaside enclave.      

I spent an afternoon, recently, photographing some of the plantings that caught my eye along or near Commercial Street, the main drag.  

Hydrangeas are popular and here are some poofy paniculatas grown as standards in a fairly traditional front garden. 

These Asian heads appear in a storefront garden.  

The entrance to a small inn with flanking manicured lawn

I love the pickets of this weathered fence and how they offer a silvery color echo of the house siding. Using Miscanthus sinensis (Maiden Grass) as a foundation plant is nice choice.  Their cascading deep red-violet inflorescence compliment the paint palette and the overall combination of colors and textures give this traditional Cape a sophisticated, unfussy look.

It took a keen eye to see this site as having decorative-planting potential!  The homeowner could have left the ledge along the driveway bare, but, instead, came up with this attractive grouping of planter boxes.  Bicycle storage be damned!

A hunky guy greets visitors in the front garden of The Mews, a local restaurant.  That's Rhus typhina'Tiger Eyes' (a Sumac cultivar) glowing yellow on the right.

A pretty traditional look; I was attracted to the first floor window with its diamond panes and the model tall ship on display.  (Look closely.)  

This very shallow bed, smack dab against the street, got a semi-tropical treatment.  How nice that such a small space got such a thoughtful planting, including a red-leafed Bromeliad, black Mondo Grass, some succulents, and Lysimachia  nummularia 'Aurea.'  The granite posts and irregular stone add depth, plus drivers won't dare get too close.  

Just off of Commercial Street in front of a large Greek Revival house is another creative street planting.  This intricate wall is decorative on its own, but the strip of Zinnias adds a punch to the pink tones of the granite.  

This planter sits on top of the same wall pictured above.  There are many large sculptures dominating the garden and you can see one behind this planter.  It's a winged creature with a sort of creepy smile.  

An  attention-grabbing planter box forms the outer edge of  an outdoor seating area in front of a restaurant in central Provincetown.  It's across from the main wharf and next to one of the busiest intersections in town so a big blast of color may be necessary to get people to stop..  

Even if you have no place for an in-ground planting you can do this!  

This house sits at the back of the alley where the house above is located.  More hydrangeas -- you can't beat those big blooms.  

I'm not sure what the beads festooning the cat mean -- leftovers from Mardi Gras?  P-town is a party town so celebration is in the air.  There is a pair of these fancy cats at the entrance to the garden.  

A hanging basket and a tall container create a vertical planting.  

No ornamental plantings here, just the signs announcing the famous Julie Heller Gallery, located just to the right of the signs.  You can find the works of many famous Provincetown artists there such as Hans Hofmann, Karl Knaths, Ross Moffett, Robert Motherwell, Jim Forsberg, and others.  

More Hydrangea paniculata standards in front of a home decor shop.  Views of planters on the side porch follow.

A little vignette in front of a gallery.

It's been a dry summer on Cape Cod, but the Perovskia looks happy.  It flops a lot less in dry conditions.

Perovskia in a storefront garden; those yellow pants make a nice accent.

The garden extends to the garbage can storage area.

That's all folks!