With the support of people like you, something remarkable happened at Phoenix House. Fifteen young men and women, each struggling to overcome an addiction to drugs, found reasons to feel proud. Alongside our landscape professionals, these individuals worked to transform a barren courtyard into a restorative garden. They dug up the rocky soil, laid down pathways, transplanted trees, constructed a gazebo, and began the precise job of cutting bluestone for a seating area. Having spent their lives unrecognized for any positive efforts, these hard workers found appreciation from their counselors, their peers, and themselves.

To their surprise, the crew also found little gray tree frogs living in the courtyard. Native to this area, it’s still unusual to find these frogs (Hyla versicolor) thriving in a courtyard surrounded by buildings. Here, the only place to breed was in stagnant puddles of rain water in a broken fountain, and their only shelter from the sun was an overgrown patch of orange day lilies. So, the crew took on a serious new responsibility, redesigning the new pond and the plantings to ensure that the garden would sustain the little frogs into the future.

You never know what you will find in the garden. Sometimes it is fresh vegetables, sometimes it is peace and beauty, and sometimes it is the knowledge that, even in a less-than-perfect environment, you can nurture yourself and others and not only sustain life but improve it. That is what the Horticultural Society of New York was able to help these needy young people learn.

Every day, the Hort works with the disenfranchised and the disadvantaged. Our tools are shovels, spades, and clippers. With public school children, disconnected youth, the mentally- and physically-challenged, and criminal offenders, we till the soil, plant seedlings, and change lives for the better.

Please remember the benefits—the meaningful and lasting gifts—that you can help us bring those in need this holiday season. Please make a contribution of $50 or more to support our programs. We rely on your generosity now more than ever.

Thank you, in advance, and on behalf of everyone at The Horticultural Society, we wish you “hoppy” holidays!