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October is NatureZen Month in Overton Park.

The event series aims to celebrate the park and the positive effects of nature on mental and physical health. 

The Overton Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that oversees the park, began NatureZen in 2022. It expanded from a week to an entire month in 2023.

There are 21 events this year, up from 12 last year. 

“We’ve seen a great response over the past few years, especially because by October people are tired of having to flee to the air conditioning, and they’re ready to spend more time outdoors,” said Melissa McMasters, the conservancy’s director of communications. “We’ve been especially heartened by the response to our education-based programming. … The Overton Park Conservancy team is full of nature nerds, and NatureZen Month is a time to really let those flags fly.”

Events are a mix of special versions of regular series the conservancy hosts, such as Science Café, Third Thursday Treks, and Wednesday Walks, as well as added events like yoga, nature journaling, and birding. 

This year, McMasters said the conservancy is expanding the guided nature walk offerings to include more specific topics.

“It may sound unconventional to go for a guided walk on the topic of mosquitoes, but our leader Drew Insch has a wealth of knowledge on everything from how to detect mosquito breeding habitat — and remove it from your yard — to how to identify the beneficial mosquito that doesn’t bite humans and eats the harmful mosquito larvae,” she said.

Another workshop is about winterizing home gardens to protect pollinators and other beneficial insects. 

Many events are collaborative.

The conservancy annually partners with the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art on one of the museum’s happy hours on the plaza. This year, they will also team up for a Super Saturday event in the park’s formal gardens.

The Memphis Zoo will host a Science Cafe event with Eric Bridges, the conservancy’s director of operations. There, he will present the results of his doctoral research on the Old Forest.

“He’s been researching why our mighty oak trees aren’t growing back when the old ones fall down, and has come up with a plan for how to help those new oaks to get established,” McMasters said.

While that event has already sold out, the Conservancy plans an encore in the spring. 

Click here for more information/to register for individual events.

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