Deronis Cooper started this magical garden with just a few containers to brighten up the landscaping around his new condo complex.
"I would go around and take photos of planters that I liked and wanted to somehow duplicate," he said.
And duplicate he did. Over the last 16 years he has hand-watered thousands of plants in his yard. He calls himself "Grandma's Gardener," as he was by his grandmother's side, tending to her garden as a teen.
"I loved my grandmother a lot, we always hung out and did stuff, so what it turned into was grandma saying I need you to help me in my garden," he recalled.
Now an adult and a Chicago police officer, gardening has become his outlet.
"In 24 years, there isn't much that I haven't seen," he said. "When I worked nights, if I got off at two or three in the morning, I might come out here and water until three or four. It's quiet. No one is bothering you. You might see a bee or a hummingbird that makes you escape for a second."
People nearby noticed, and it's become an escape for others as well.
"This is a place to ease the pain yes, it does," said neighbor Mike White, who also volunteers to help with the garden. "When you come here and put your mind at ease, it's like all the stress moves on."
"You can be having a bad day but you can go into a garden and look around at the beauty and the growoth," said Juline McClinton, Austin resident and member of the Austin Green Team. "It's just mind-soothing, it does something to you."
"Tis place has been such an oasis," said neighbor Maria Cleveland. "I give Deronis full credit, he has been supportive and he has allowed us to come into his space and make it our space."
"It was just something I created for myself, to allow myself to escape, but I had no idea it would draw this much attention from so many people," Cooper said.
All of Cooper's plants are annuals; they won't survive Chicago winters. So before the first frost, he gives away all the plants if people want to bring them inside and plant them outside in the spring.
Next spring he will start with new plants and grow his garden all over again.