Spring at The Paine

While at The Paine, it always amazes me when I leave and realize it is on a city block in the middle of downtown Oshkosh and that it shares that block with other houses.

With all the white, blue,yellow, pink and purples; this splash of red really stands out.

I think this is Washington Hawthorne.  Often a vector of bacterial and fungal diseases, pricey, short-lived, and hard to find in retail; minimally it IS hardy for me.  I'm not sure why I don;t grow it.

Euphorbia Polychroma and Virginia bluebells

Add some ostrich fern and variegated Solomon seals to the mix

Sometime just underplanting can magically make something ordinary seem mystical.

Bergenia and Virginia bluebells

Classic

This, too. Makes me want to buy two half sphere plastic bowls and some concrete...

Because of the intimate size of The Paine's garden, it makes me feel like it is a garden I could aspire to have on my small lot.  When I look at my shrub and tree border on my alley or my hosta underplanting my white pines and my hedges I sometimes feel I have likewise created something from nothing.  I think I enjoy The Paine more because of its size, not lack of it.