KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Glenn Stewart has always had a green thumb.
"This is the thyme. Grew all winter," she said while pointing to plants outside the USPS Post Office on Westport Road.
Stewart brought her gardening talents to the concrete jungle back in 2008. That's when she made an agreement with management at the Westport post office to plan a community garden in front of the facility.
For the past nine years, she has tended to the plants twice a day. Despite infertile soil and issues with erosion, flowers, herbs and bushes continue to grow.
"Every year it's there, and it's magic, so it's the Magic Garden," Stewart explained.
But the Magic Garden, as it's affectionately called, may not be in bloom for much longer. Stewart said an official with the post office told her last week the garden has to go. A USPS spokeswoman confirmed to 41 Action News there are concerns about overgrowth, adding the appearance is "not favorable."
Stewart acknowledged some parts of the garden are overgrown and said she already had plans to address the issues this week.
"To me, there's a way to get rid of the things that make people unhappy and keep the balance. That's what I'm looking for," she said.
Community Impact
Just a few blocks away from the garden, Eileen Burns mixes drinks at Californos in Westport.
"This is something we get from Glenn, our farm to market distributor," Burns said of the Russian sage she added to a strawberry margarita.
"I would be disappointed for us, but the biggest disappointment would be for her," Burns said about the possibility of Stewart's garden being removed.
According to Stewart, others who live in Westport frequently stop by to pick their own herbs or to just smell the flowers.
"I love it because I'm making someone else happy," she said.
Stewart isn't giving up hope her garden can work its magic once more and continue to serve the people of Westport.
"I would be totally crushed, and not just for this and all the stories behind it, but for all the people it has touched and keeps touching," Stewart said.
