1 of 6
Photo by Erin Nelson
A child looks at a blow-up jack-o-lantern scarecrow at the annual Miss Sims’ Garden Pumpkin and Mum sale at the garden in Homewood on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
2 of 6
Photo by Erin Nelson
Sims Garden Fall Fundraiser
A variety of sizes and types of pumpkins at Sims Garden are seen at the garden for the kick off of its fall fundraiser with the annual Pumpkins and Mums Sale in Homewood.
3 of 6
Photo by Erin Nelson
Sims Garden Fall Fundraiser
A potted Mum is seen on a table at Sims Garden on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020, as the garden kicked off of its fall fundraiser with the annual Pumpkins and Mums Sale in Homewood.
4 of 6
Photo by Erin Nelson
From left: Lindsay Hugghins, Lynn Luckianow, David Lorberbaum, Amy Weis, Miss Sims’ Garden caretaker, Cale Smith, Homewood City Engineer, and Jimmy Honeycutt at Sims Garden in Homewood on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. Hugghins, Luckianow, Lorberbaum, and Honeycutt serve on the Miss Sims’ Garden Foundation, Inc. board with Holly Kennedy, board president, Brandy Johnson, vice president, Harold Hudson, Stacey Morales, and Matthew Gilpen who were not present for the photo.
5 of 6
Photo by Erin Nelson
Amy Weiss spreads mulch in a bed of asparagus in the Grow More, Give More kitchen garden at Miss Sims’ Garden in Homewood on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023.
6 of 6
Photo courtesy of Amy Weis
The Pumpkin and Mum Sale features a scarecrow contest each year, with past submissions featuring a mummy, a dog and even Queen Elizabeth.
The Sims Garden Pumpkin and Mum Sale has returned for another year as a favorite fall festivity, and the event is part of a bigger effort to solidify the garden’s future.
Amy Weis has been the caretaker and executive director of Sims Garden for the past five years and has made significant changes, but she’s got her work cut out for her.
With needed updates expected to cost a total of $350,000, fundraising is at the top of Weis’ priority list.
The city of Homewood inherited the Sims Garden property in 2009 as a gift from Catherine Sims, a local figure known for her love of plants.
Sims was well known in Homewood as "the plant lady." Her extensive gardens, which spanned five lots, were admired by many, and she shared her gardening knowledge and plants with the community. Even after her death, stories about her passion for gardening and her influence on the neighborhood continued to circulate.
“A neighbor on the corner the other day said, ‘You see that tree? Miss Sims walked down here one day, and asked me, actually told me, that I needed a dogwood tree and told me to plant it right there. I said, ‘OK, Catherine.’ She dug the hole, and then she came back under the cover of moonlight to plant it,” Weis said.
Sims had specified in her will that the property be maintained as a botanical park. However, she left no clear definition of what that entailed.
“Over the years, there have been different people and different sorts of strategies developed,” said Weis, “but not a whole lot really implemented.”
The city did little with the property until 2012, when they contracted with the Southern Environmental Center at Birmingham-Southern College to create a plan for Sims Garden. The trust fund Sims set up, while not specifically earmarked for the garden, provided the initial grant of $150,000 for the first five years.
Landscape architects were initially hired to help restore the garden, which had become overgrown and neglected. However, the lack of consistent funding and proper caretaking quickly became evident.
Weis said the city had assumed that no additional funds were required for the garden after the initial grant, but that was not the case, since the trust fund was actually meant for charity, not garden upkeep.
In 2018, Weis, then a teacher at Samford University, was contacted by the then-caretaker of the garden and was asked if she knew of any students who might be interested in moving into the house on premises.
According to Weis, the SEC failed to uphold their contract with the city, which said they were supposed to hire and pay for a full-time caretaker and cover all maintenance. However, that didn't happen after the first caretaker moved out. Weis submitted a proposal to the City Council in 2018, outlining a plan for a full-time caretaker position, and she was appointed to the role that July.
Once appointed, Weis began implementing changes to the garden, working closely with landscape architects, the city, and other stakeholders. A significant issue was, and still is, stormwater management, as development in the surrounding neighborhood has increased runoff issues.
She began collaborating with engineers and landscape professionals to develop a plan for sustainable stormwater management, and she and Homewood’s city engineer, Cale Smith, aim to turn the garden into an example of best practices in stormwater management, showcasing how to calculate and retain rainfall and how a rain garden works, among other things.
Weis said they want interpretive signage on the property that can explain stormwater management both to schoolchildren and to engineers, landscapers or other professionals who might be interested.
To turn these plans into reality, the city contracted with Goodwyn Mills Cawood in 2019 for the design of a new landscape project. The design was completed in October 2021, but the bid process brought up concerns about stormwater retention that led to a reassessment.
Tara Barber, an engineer specializing in stormwater, was brought on board, and her experience helped realign the project.The city also allocated approximately $93,000 from its 2022-2023 budget to support the landscaping upgrades.
To garner further financial support, Weis began fundraising in 2020 with the first pumpkin and mum sale, but establishing the Miss Sims Garden Foundation, Inc., nonprofit in 2021 to manage the garden's operations allowed her to start fundraising in earnest.
Other plans in the works include ADA-compliant pathways and an event space. The goal is to restore the garden to its former glory and create a space that serves as both a community hub and an educational resource.
As the work at Sims Garden moves forward, Weis says they currently need to raise about $100,000 to meet their fundraising goal. The fundraising efforts include the pumpkin and mum sale throughout October and other community-driven initiatives.
Despite the hurdles, Weis remains optimistic about completing the design and making the garden self-sufficient.
“The garden is about preserving the ‘plant lady’s’ legacy, that she left her garden in perpetuity for the enjoyment of the city and for the education of children and adults,” Weis said. “It was something she was passionate about, and so we're passionate about preserving her legacy.”