A garden can appear to be a quiet place. Beneath the flowers, however, roots are pressing against boundaries, seeds are claiming space and entire ecosystems are negotiating how to live together.

That is the fertile ground Colorado author Camille T. Dungy explores in Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden.

Dungy, a University Distinguished Professor at Colorado State University, moved to Fort Collins with her husband and daughter in 2013. She encountered neighborhood expectations and restrictions that favored tidy lawns and limited what residents could grow. Over the next seven years, she worked to replace sameness with a more diverse, vibrant and ecologically useful garden.

But Soil is not simply a gardening book.

Dungy weaves together Black motherhood, family, history, environmental justice and the experience of creating a place where both plants and people are permitted to flourish. Her garden becomes a living argument against monoculture, not only in landscaping, but also in communities and in the stories society chooses to preserve.

That makes Soil especially meaningful for Centennial.

Across our community, homeowners are reconsidering what a beautiful Colorado yard can look like. Traditional lawns require substantial water and maintenance, while native and drought-tolerant plants can support pollinators, conserve resources and add texture and seasonal color. Local residents can see examples of completed Centennial water-wise yard projects or explore professionally designed Colorado garden kits through Resource Central’s Garden In A Box.

Dungy’s work also invites us to ask deeper questions. Who created our neighborhood standards? Which forms of beauty are welcomed? What happens when maintaining a uniform appearance becomes more important than encouraging life?

The book does not demand that every reader remove an entire lawn or begin a backyard revolution before breakfast. Instead, it encourages closer attention. A patch of native flowers, a pollinator garden or a conversation with neighbors about changing landscaping expectations can become a small but meaningful beginning.

Soil reminds us that cultivating a community resembles cultivating a garden. Diversity cannot merely be tolerated around the edges.

It must be given light, room and care.

Centennial readers can purchase Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden here.