Carol Hyde

April 2026 Issue

by Mary Hope Roseneau
Photography (top) by Cassidy Dunn Photography

 

Carol Hyde, or “Dr. Hyde” as she was known for most of her life, is an accomplished musician who truly deserves the best piano in the world.

Growing up in the Midwest, her parents, who were “good Catholics”, had eleven children altogether. Carol was number three, and they ordered her first musical instrument, a flute, from the JC Penney catalog. From this tiny seed her parents nourished, she went on to an illustrious career in music lasting several decades. Earning a doctorate in Music Education and a second doctorate in Piano Performance from the University of Illinois in Champaign, Carol spread the joy of music in her career as a band director in an award-winning high school in St. Louis, Missouri, taking her student musicians to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Rose Bowl Parade several times.

Now perhaps you can understand why Carol’s entryway is dominated by a magnificent ebony concert grand piano, gleaming with its huge lid on “full stick”, ready to be tickled. It is a Concert Bösendorfer 290 Imperial model which features four extra bass keys. If that isn’t impressive enough, this Austrian-made, musical masterpiece was once played by the great Sir Elton John. Now as a piano teacher, Carol has a limited number of adult students, and one 5-year-old, who gives her a great deal of delight.

Post retirement, Carol chose to move to Beaufort after looking at other towns on the east coast that just didn’t feel right. She loved Savannah and Charleston and then saw a tiny dot of a place on the map called Beaufort. She came one weekend, fell in love, and bought her home in Somerset Point while it was still under construction. In this way, she was able to personalize everything in the home, even having mother of pearl tile installed in the kitchen. The whole house is wonderful, featuring a warm and comforting open design. But wait, there’s more. The Garden! Well, it’s over-the-top.

Carol had only been in Beaufort two years when she was contacted by the prestigious Beaufort Garden Club “Garden a Day” annual tour to open up her backyard. News on Lady’s Island had spread about a “lady who had 30 steel musician sculptures playing different re-cycled instruments, along with a female conductor sculpture with wild, rusted steel hair directing them. Surrounding this silent orchestra are plants, bushes, and trees of many different species. It’s wild-looking, like Philip Glass’ modern music, but also stately and under control, like J.S. Bach’s Inventions. There is peace with this steel orchestra, seemingly just awaiting the conductor to give the cue.

Carol’s garden reveals her other side as the “plant lady”, well known at the Saturday morning, Port Royal Farmer’s Market. When not travelling, you can usually find her there with her many starter flats of pollinator plants. These are the beautiful blooming plants that attract hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies, all so tremendously important to the environment. As well as selling plants to people who stop by her market stall, she loves to give valuable advice—from what fertilizer to stock up on and how much water to give.

She also is enamored with the beloved Christmastime amaryllis, known for its bold, vibrant red blooms. She explained how amaryllis bulbs can be divided and moved outside after the last frost and continue to come back year after year with the right mild temperatures.

Not surprisingly, Carol combines her love for music with the love of the Lord. As such, she found her place of service as music director for St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Port Royal. The church purchased the historic Union Church on 11th Street right off Paris Avenue several years ago and has an active, growing congregation.

Very soon, Carol will be tiptoeing through the tulips in Amsterdam. She enjoys travelling and is looking forward to a long-awaited and well-deserved river cruise which will include touring the world-renown, kaleidoscopic tulip fields. It’s a trip of a lifetime that she has intricately planned, one of her strong suits. Whether planning a big trip, teaching high school students to play a band instrument or guiding amateur gardeners in growing a plant, Carol emphasizes breaking tasks into small, manageable steps, and approaching each step with daily diligence.

Two quotes that are taped at her kitchen counter:

“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” —Mahatma Gandhi

And……

“Continuous effort—not intelligence—is the key to unlocking our potential.” —Winston Churchill

And that is why Carol is busier—and happier— than ever in her “retirement”.

 

Carol’s Favorite 5 Pollinator Plants:
Fill your garden with color and bring hummingbirds, bees and butterflies in abundance:

• African Blue Basil: “If I could only have one plant in my garden, it would be this beautiful and hardworking basil.”

• Tithonia: “So easy to grow and this workhorse has an abundance of beautiful orange “daisy-like” flowers until the frost stops it. Butterflies will visit in abundance.”

• Vermillionaire® Cuphea: “A ‘million blooms’ on each plant make for a hummingbird magnet!”

• Ruellia Ragin’ Cajun™️: “Bright red flowers bring the hummingbirds and butterflies to sip on the delightful nectar.”

• Black and Blue Salvia: “Salvias are wonderful pollinator plants, and this variety is tops for bringing hummingbirds, butterflies and bees to the garden.”