“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”

— Audrey Hepburn

WHAT’S GOOD

🌿 Spring is the Perfect Time to Become a Friend of Charis Park

As the park comes alive this season, there's no better time to become a Friend of Charis Park! Your membership directly supports the maintenance, seasonal plantings, and community events that keep Charis Park thriving year-round.

And here's a sweet perk to know about—save the date for our first farm field trip of the year! On Saturday, April 18th, we're heading to Herd On The Street, the family farm just south of San Antonio in Somerset that supplies the pasture-raised lamb, beef, pork, and more you find at our Farmers Market. The visit includes a hay bale ride, a look at regenerative agriculture in action, and time to shop at their farm store. Bring the whole family and meet the people who grow your food! 🌾🐄

The farm tour is a ticketed event, but Friends of Charis Park Oak- and Grove-level members can attend for free. Grab your tickets here—and if you're not yet a member, now's a great time to join!

On Zinnias and Generosity

Amy Lynn Johnson, Communications Manager, Sunset Ridge Collective

Two summers ago, a friend sent out a mass invitation for local friends to come and help themselves to all the zinnia flowers they could pick from her parents’ front yard. She shared some photos and my eyes grew wide in awe of how many there were—and they’d already picked a ton. I convinced one of my girls to join me in an evening excursion in early August and we pulled up during golden hour with containers and scissors in tow. The evening light made the experience even more magical.

The flowers burst out from both sides of the sidewalk, many as tall as waist high. They were an almost overwhelming feast for the eyes. The blooms were as fluffy as pompoms and came in oranges and reds, corals and pinks, fuchsias and pale pinks. We began snipping carefully away, not wanting to tread on their beauty. We filled two brown bags full of flowers that evening, going home with over 3 dozen blooms.

We never saw my friend’s parents while we were out snipping in their front yard. It felt a bit like we weren’t supposed to be there. But plenty of other people had shared pics of their own floral hauls in our friend’s original post. And she had made follow up posts imploring friends to help snip the flowers down and lessen the load her parents would have to contend with come yard maintenance time.

What felt so foreign to me at the time was the unbound generosity in sharing their abundance of flowers so freely, without catch or expectation. As a single mom, I knew well the ache of not being able to give my kids nice things. To be invited to this abundant garden, without having to prove my worth or earn my place there felt almost surreal.

That evening became a core summer memory with my daughter. I think we both felt that as we got back in the car to drive home. We had flowers throughout our home for weeks, but the memory of that moment together picking zinnias has lasted for years.

I made a feeble attempt to grow my own zinnias from seed in a small patch by my front door the following year. I got a couple of sprouts, but didn’t tend to them well enough in the end. This year, I’ve renewed the effort in my backyard. I prepped a much sunnier spot with rich, gorgeous soil and tucked the seeds in over the weekend. I have higher hopes for them this year, along with a vegetable garden underway. Some new friends gifted us with extra bags of soil and compost from their own spring gardening. I dream of waist high blooms in my yard throughout the summer and into the fall. And I can’t wait to share from the abundance of what will grow.