Garden & Friends
The magic of Zora’s Garden is more real than you think. In fact, the idea for the book came from the author’s own garden. Enjoy some photos of her gardens over the years, along with pictures of some of our wonderful friends who love this tale.
Zora’s Garden Friends
The “Friends” of Zora’s Garden are the children, families, educators, and community members who have embraced the story and helped it grow beyond the page. With immense gratitude, nearly 1,500 copies of Zora’s Garden have been personally distributed into classrooms, libraries, community spaces, and individual homes. Each one represents a shared moment of care, imagination, and connection.
Rae’s Garden
Inspired by learning that Zora Neale Hurston loved gardening, the author of Zora’s Garden began tending a garden of her own during the pandemic alongside her son, Cameron. What started as a way to spend time together and avoid cabin fever became a living extension of the story itself. Gardening offered a tangible way to explore patience, curiosity, and the quiet work of nurturing something over time, themes that are woven throughout the book.
Fun fact: Cameron, whose birthday is just two days before Zora’s, named the 2020 garden for Zora. In 2021, Rae made it official with garden tools to commemorate the naming. The book idea was born in the garden as Rae and Cameron made up stories together as they worked. They still garden together each year. He lovingly shows up a lot in the below photos.
