Flowers in Purgatory: How Prison Gardens Transform Inmates & Communities

At Utah's Purgatory Correctional Facility, a former guard-dog training area is now an oasis of vegetables, fruit trees, and vines—tended by inmates. Sergeant Tim Wiegert and volunteers built it in two weeks with donated plants, irrigation, and university guidance.

More Than Horticulture

The program teaches responsibility, job skills, and hope. Inmate Tony Perez says gardening "allows you to get your mind thinking about what's next in life." He's already been offered a nursery job. Inmates plan to grow pumpkins for local schools.

A National Movement

History: WWI POW camps (Ruhleben, Germany) had gardening clubs accepted into the Royal Horticultural Society.
Today: Programs flourish nationwide:
• Alabama: Inmates grow flowers for nursing homes (Elmore, Tutwiler, Staton).
• Ohio: Mansfield Correctional beautifies prisons, schools, patrol grounds.
• Massachusetts: Barnstable County Jail operates 9 greenhouses + farm—40,000 annuals sold yearly; profits fund drug counseling, computers, education.
• Illinois: Since 1994, 230+ flowerbeds and 300+ containers at State Fairgrounds—IDOC Director calls it a taxpayer asset.

Green Rehabilitation

With volunteers, experts, and civic support, prison gardens cut food costs, generate revenue, reduce recidivism, and bloom beauty in unlikely places. As Sgt. Wiegert says: "We want to show people what we're doing and how they can benefit."