Stephanie Flom wore a skirt and heels on Friday, but she still squatted amid the fresh-turned earth to plant Kate Grannemann's Easter lily.

	Pam Panchak, Post-Gazette Stephanie Flom plants an Easter lily at the groundbreaking Friday for the Good Grief Center's Magic Penny Garden at the Carnegie Library of Homestead in Munhall. Click photo for larger image.

It was the first plant in the Good Grief Center's Magic Penny Garden at the Carnegie Library of Homestead. Flom originated the idea for such gardens, while Grannemann is the library's executive director.

The new garden is being built on the east corner of the front lawn, starting at the sidewalk and running off the hill to the walkway.

Grannemann donated the lily in memory of her twin sister, Nancy McEvoy, 56, of Youngstown, who died of scleroderma on Feb. 13. McEvoy had been a nun with the Sisters of the Humility of Mary from Villa Maria, Lawrence County,for 29 years.

When she held the plant out as part of the garden's groundbreaking ceremony, Grannemann said she was presenting it in memory of her sister and Pope John Paul II.

She said the idea to honor the pope came out of a discussion she had with Lulu Orr, executive director of the Good Grief Center for Bereavement Support. She said before talking to Orr she had thought of the garden as a place to honor only local residents, but Orr had said people grieve for losses both near and far.

This is the Flom's sixth magic penny garden. It's an idea that grew out of her own garden at her home in Highland Park. She noticed that many of her plants had been given to her by friends and realized that the garden had evolved into her art. As an artist, she wanted to name what she was doing and spread the concept.

That's when the Malvina Reynolds' song "The Magic Penny" came to mind with its lyrics "Love is something if you give it away, you end up having more."

The garden, as it is being developed at the library, takes the idea a step further because the plants have a deeper meaning, with each representing a story.

Since the official event was a groundbreaking, it was complete with dignitaries, shovels and a check for 1 million pennies ($10,000) from the Garden Club of Allegheny County to help pay for the landscaping.

The garden was designed by Mark McKenzie of Swissvale, owner of Landscape Architectural Services, and features small paths running along the hillside that leads from the library to Tenth Street.

Some plants already have been donated to the Good Grief Center. Community members also can buy bricks to support the garden.

Total cost of the project will be about $30,000. Flom said in addition to the donation from the garden club, the Good Grief Center received $15,000 from a foundation that wished to remain unnamed.

Visitors will have benches and large rocks to sit on. The plan also calls for art installations, including sound poles by Frank Ferraro, of Edgewood,that will resonate with the wind to create soft tones.

The two other artists creating installations are Lisa Austin, of Erie, and Eric Sloss, of Highland Park.

McKenzie said he was excited to be a part of a collaborative art project that was also creating a garden.

"I love it," he said. "I'm in my element."

To volunteer to care for the garden or to donate a memorial brick, contact the Good Grief Center at 412-461-1776.