Gardens of a Philadelphia Townhouse

I am Rich from Philadelphia. I am sharing some images from the gardens of our 1812 Federal-style townhouse. There is a front yard, which is located in the middle of a 10-plus block business district, and a “backyard,” most of which runs parallel to our home. I have endeavored to create a series of garden rooms that best match the light conditions of each area. The publicly viewable front yard includes a white-and-silver-themed perennial shade garden as well as a vibrant bed of rotating annuals. The backyard includes a formal courtyard with a triangular-shaped boxwood border, a perennial border, and a kitchen garden. Multiple water features and a diversity of shrubs, trees, and other plantings and accents contribute to a serene scene for birds, pollinators, and humans.

White and purple tulips mix with emerging shade perennials in front of a Belgian fence of English ivy (Hedera helix, Zones 5–9).

The white and purple tulips give way to a silver-and-white-themed shade garden that includes goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus, Zones 3–8), bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis, Zones 2–7), brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla, Zones 3–8), lambs’ ears (Stachys byzantina, Zones 4–8), geraniums (Geranium ‘Rozanne’, Zones 5–8), Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra, Zones 5–9), and hostas (Hosta hybrids, Zones 3–9).

Once the tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths fade, I transition the other side of the front yard to tropicals, which thrive in Philadelphia’s hot, humid summers.

A highlight of the backyard courtyard is the triangular boxwood border, seen here with Greigii tulips.

A mourning dove has a drink at the courtyard fountain.

Standard lilacs (Syringa pubescens, Zones 4–7), deciduous azalea (Rhododendron hybrid), and boxwood (Buxus sp.) topiaries in the courtyard garden.

Right outside of our kitchen are four raised beds that are laid out in front of the garden shed. The main vegetables I grow are tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, and the main herbs I grow are basil, parsley, rosemary, chives, and thyme. I have also grown carrots, radishes, lettuce, Swiss chard, pole and bush beans, garlic, and oregano.

To the left of the raised beds is a full-sun flower bed that includes Coreopsis, liatris (Liatris spicata, Zones 3–9), yarrow (Achillea millifolium, Zones 3–9), Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia, Zones 5–9), daylilies (Hemerocallis hybrids, Zones 4–9), Echinacea, and garden phlox (Phlox davidii, Zones 3–8). Four ‘Degroot’s Spire’ arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Degroot’s Spire’, Zones 3–8) separate the courtyard from the raised beds.

At the back of the house is a quiet, relaxing seating area with raised planters, a fountain, and apple trees.

You can view more images on my Instagram page at @phillygarden

Have a garden you’d like to share?

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.

If you want to send photos in separate emails to the GPOD email box that is just fine.

Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening!

You don’t have to be a professional garden photographer – check out our garden photography tips!

Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here.