By Johnson 
Happy Monday GPODers!
It’s always a pleasure to be reintroduced to a garden we haven’t seen in a while. Syd Carpenter has shared her Philadelphia garden many times in the past, but we haven’t gotten an update since 2020 (You can check out some of her previous submissions here: Last Summer in Syd Carpenter’s Garden, Returning to a Sculptor’s Garden, Inspired Plant Combinations, A Rich Palette of Leaves, and more). She did share the incredible hugel garden she created for the Woodmere Art Museum in 2022 (A Hugel Garden), but today we finally get an update on the magic she has been creating in her home garden.
If you want to bring a touch of the tropics to your garden, the Chinese ground orchid (Bletilla striata, Zones 5–9) is just the ticket. In Syd’s garden, with lots of shade and some bold foliage plants, it’s a wonderful compliment to the tapestry of bright green foliage.
Syd mixes and matches a wonderful range of colors in her beds, and isn’t afraid to get a little dark and moody with her plant choices. These daylilies are so dark they’re nearly black in some spots, but still provide a pop of brightness with their yellow centers.
Foliage is also utilized expertly for color and form. The dark, round leaves of leopard plant (Ligularia dentata, Zones 3–8) an excellent contrast to the bright white foliage of spotted deadnettle (Lamium maculatum , Zones 3–8).
Another shady bed with fabulous contrast. I love that the chartreuse is picking up little slices of sun coming through the dappled shade.
Syd utilizes every possible inch of planting space to inject more interest and greenery. Her beds are densely planted, even in the deep shade, and creeping plants fill all the cracks and crevices.
Most of the color palettes we’ve seen in Syd’s beds and borders have been deeper, darker, and a little more subdued, but there are areas that are a little more bright and bold. This pathway leading to her home glows with bright pink, purple, and chartreuse.
Another fantastic dark and light pairing from Syd is a bright white salvia, potentially ‘Vatican White’ clary sage (Salvia sclarea ‘Vatican White’, Zones 4–9), and the dark foliage of pineapple lily (Eucomis ‘Oakhurst’, Zones 5–10) before it goes into bloom.
Along with being a talented gardener, Syd is an accomplished sculptor and ceramics artist (You can check out some of her incredible work on her website) who made many of the amazing pots and eye-catching garden art found in her landscape. While this gorgeous bed of bold and colorful foliage plants is sensational on its own, her eye for artwork brings another level of personality to her designs.
That personality is exemplified in this outstanding piece of functional garden art. A bare concrete wall becomes a canvas from which this faux-espalier grows and creates a one-of-a-kind design. Purple hearts (Tradescantia pallida ‘Purpurea’, Zones 8–11 or as an annual) are always a great container plant, but this level of creativity and artistic ability cannot be replicated.
Thank you so much for this fabulous update on your garden, Syd! Your artistic eye is always evident in the designs you create and photos you share, so it’s easy to find something new to be inspired by.
The ever-hectic summer season is in full swing, and I need your help to keep Garden Photo of the Day sailing through the summer months with lots of gorgeous gardens to share. While you might expect summer to be the time of year when we get the most submissions at GPOD, vacations, trips to the beach, and oppressive heat that keeps our outdoors time to a minimum actually causes a small submission drought during the peak season. So next time you’re in your garden to do some quick deadheading and watering, take a few snaps of whatever is looking particularly good right now and share them with the blog. Follow the directions below to submit photos via email, or send me a DM on Instagram: @agirlherdogandtheroad.
We want to see YOUR garden!
Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!
To submit, send 5–10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.
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