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SUSTAINABILITY
Wylde Center celebrates 25 years of environmental stewardship Wylde and her husband, Britt Dean, acquired it and thus the Oakhurst Community Garden Project was born. This would pave the way for what later became an extensive network of greenspaces spread throughout the eastern communities of Atlanta and Decatur. Today, Wylde Center Gardens include the Oakhurst Garden, Sugar Creek Garden also in Oakhurst, Hawk Hollow in Kirkwood, Edgewood Community Learning Garden, and the Mulberry Fields Garden in Candler Park. I recently spoke with Wylde’s executive director Stephanie Van Parys and development and events coordinator Ferrin Tinter to learn about their current projects and programs. Parys has been at the helm of Wylde Center for the past 17 years after a stint at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. With a degree in horticulture, experience serving on the board of two nonprofits, and living in the neighborhood near the Oakhurst Garden, it was a natural fit for Parys to get involved with the Wylde Center. She first was recruited to the board by Sally Wylde herself, and after a year, Parys was asked to take over when Wylde retired. In her youth, Parys was surrounded by a love for nature. Both of her grandparents – one set here in the states and another
Wylde Center executive director Stephanie Van Parys. (Photos by Isadora Pennington)
By Isadora Pennington
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omposed of seven acres of land split between five different gardens, the Wylde Center is an invaluable resource for the communities which they serve. Oakhurst Garden, the first Wylde Center garden, was created by Sally Wylde in 1997. This first foray into community gardens was a result of Louise Jackson’s response to neighborhood children trampling her yard back in 1996. Instead of finding ways to prevent the children from walking through her garden, Wylde and Jackson partnered with neighbors and invited the children to become caretakers of the greenspace. In time, Jackson’s yard was transformed into a lush garden full of vibrant, happy plants and lined with a colorful rainbow fence. The children were able to see their efforts pay off as plants grew and flourished. The group then decided to create a garden in the median strip in front of Jackson’s home. When an undeveloped half-acre lot which had been used as a commercial basil farm came up for sale,
20 APRIL 2022 |
Left, Mark Ethun and daughter Ellison learn about planting at the Wylde Center.
in Germany – were gardeners, as was her mother. “We lived in Germany for several years and I spent a lot of my childhood in a rural setting,” said Parys. “It wasn’t just about gardening, it was about being in the landscape, being in nature, and using that to live.” She recalls eating a lot of salads that they sourced directly from her family’s garden and fond memories of playing around and under her grandfather’s cherry At l a n t a I n t o w n Pa p e r. c o m
