Hope Eternal Gardens

04/28/2026

Sometimes we need a small gift of joy. Especially in seasons when there are unfinished things around loss, like a loved one's ashes that don’t have a final resting place yet.

We’ve created a free Stories & Sunlight Spring set: two pressed‑plant art prints made from real plants growing at Hope Eternal Gardens and pressed in our studio. They’re high‑resolution files you can print at home or through a local shop, in several sizes.

They’re meant to be small, beautiful things to spark joy in your daily life.

🌿 Download the free Stories & Sunlight Spring art prints (limited time):

We made this print first and foremost as a small gift of joy, especially in seasons when you—or someone you care about—are quietly carrying the weight of “we still haven’t figured out what to do with a loved one's ashes yet.”

04/21/2026

New arrivals by the pond: our resident sandhill crane pair just strolled by, showing off their babies. Love seeing this place grow into a home for future generations - both human and bird!

04/02/2026

Honored to virtually visit the Harvard Graduate School of Design and share Hope Eternal Gardens with the “Landscapes of Remembrance” Landscape Architecture Core II Design Studio, coordinated by Craig Douglas ().

The students (MLA 1, first‑year) and I spent the session walking through Hope Eternal Gardens – our licensed natural burial cemetery, memorial forest, and future public park in Punta Gorda, Florida – as a case study in how designers can:
– Work inside real ecological and regulatory constraints
– Treat planting as participatory remembrance, not just maintenance
– Live with their designs and adapt over time

Huge thanks to Craig and the students for such thoughtful, grounded questions and for engaging so deeply with what “forever” landscapes ask of us.

03/27/2026

Still taking in what it feels like to see our story on PBS.
This all began with Chris’s mom Kena asking for a simple, natural resting place. Watching him keep that promise – and seeing the forest grow around it – has been one of the hardest and most meaningful chapters of our lives.
Sharing a short clip here. The full segment is linked in our bio.

03/25/2026

The WGCU Public Media PBS segment on Hope Eternal Gardens just aired, and it shares the story at the heart of this place: Chris fulfilling his mom Kena’s last wish.

Before there was a cemetery or a masterplan, there was a simple request from a mom to her son: a natural resting place in a living landscape. The segment follows how that wish turned into a licensed natural burial cemetery, a growing memorial forest, and a future public park in rural Punta Gorda.

If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to turn a loved one’s wish into something living and tangible – a forest your family can visit for generations – this is a way to see it.

Watch the segment here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_1krWZOO7s

If it brings up questions about your own planning, or how natural burial works here, you’re always welcome to reach out or request a quiet visit.

Taking a unique approach to remembering a loved one, WGCU’s Culture and Connections Reporter Elizabeth Andarge shares how three families are immortalizing th...

02/28/2026

From bare soil to a young forest in just two years.

Ryan, our groundskeeper, his family, and close friends of Hope planted our very first Miyawaki forest here. They returned this week to find the same spot transformed into a lush, green landscape – a living preview of the future forest and park this place is becoming. Each tree planted and nurtured with lots of love.

12/11/2025

As we worked on the Sgt. Diaz Memorial, we received a very unexpected visit.

In the days leading up to the planting for the Sgt. Elio Diaz Memorial, our team was preparing the land – laying out the walkway, staging trees, and getting everything organized for the families and officers who would soon gather. While we were working, two bald eagles appeared over the memorial s...

10/20/2025

This Week’s Episode of Spotlight Now is Here!

This week’s episode of Spotlight Now features Lauren Robie of Hope Eternal Gardens. Tune in to learn about how Hope Eternal Gardens is creating a one-of-a-kind memorial forest that honors life and stewards the planet.

About Our Guest:
Lauren Robie co-founded Hope Eternal Gardens, a state-licensed natural burial cemetery in Punta Gorda, FL. With her husband, licensed landscape architect Chris Alonso, they create native memorial forests and meadows that invite families to take part. Hope began as a promise to Chris’s mother and has become a shared work of healing and place-making. Each burial supports the planting of over 20 acres of forest – often by families choosing to participate in planting – growing habitat, community, and a future park that they can enjoy together. Lauren’s work centers the human experience: a chance to honor, to participate, and to leave something living behind.

Learn More:
hopeeternalgardens.com

Watch the Episode Here:
https://youtu.be/OPD8JJHHkeM

10/08/2025

Help spread our mission of planting forests to honor loved ones! Vote here: https://www.yoursun.com/sunfiercewomen/ or share this post! You can vote once a day throughout October.

🌟 Nominee #3 – Lauren Robie

💜✨ Vote for Your FIERCE Woman of October – Frightful Professions! ✨💜

Some build parks, others design gardens — Lauren Robie built a cemetery. 🌿

As co-founder of Hope Eternal Gardens, Charlotte County’s first natural burial cemetery, Lauren is redefining what it means to honor life after death. Thoughtful, determined, and quietly powerful, she’s created a space where nature and remembrance coexist beautifully.

Her path may be unconventional, but her impact is lasting. That’s what makes Lauren truly FIERCE. 💜

🗳️ Vote for Lauren Robie as October’s FIERCE Woman of the Month at 👉 sunfiercewomen.com 👈
Vote daily and help us celebrate women who turn courage into action.
FIERCE Women

10/03/2025

🌿 Hope Eternal Gardens is honored to share that Lauren has been nominated for FIERCE Women! 🌿 Voting for her helps spread awareness about planting forests in honor of loved ones. You can vote once a day throughout October.

💚 Cast your daily vote here: https://www.yoursun.com/sunfiercewomen/?fbclid=IwY2xjawNM-v5leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFyUDBISWN2amRPWThQWUpFAR6ctQWoeaiXgvBr9ZfNqfnGn9pcQtTGAXNKyucPJNR-6r5hKBVx4RZpP4-D_Q_aem_bNEsy-sqKZKPbXoyR0b3yw #/gallery

Together, we can grow hope.

PUNTA GORDA — If you’d told Lauren Robie 10 years ago that one day she’d not only build a cemetery but also nominate herself as a FIERCE woman, she’d have