First -- I'm glad you were not seriously ill -- can't have that!

Secondly -- you're right, you know. Sterile hospital walls don't help us heal. The hospital here has built a courtyard garden (yes, with roses) and I suspect it really is helpful to those who can go to it. (If you're stuck in a room, you probably can't, but still . . . )

I also heard last night that some hospitals are sticking a cautious toe into a policy that will allow hospital patients visits from their own cats and dogs. Great thinking! Having a therapy dog in our family has shown us how much good that can do.

I hope that, next time I'm hospitalized, my dogs can visit, and my DH can bring me roses from home.

Jeri

I'm also glad you're OK, Linda. You know, you could have spent a whole lot less for a whole lot more "vacation" and enjoyed it a whale of a lot more!

Toward the end of her life, my mother required skilled nursing care. We selected a facility which was not only best for care and cleanliness, but which was also built around a series of courtyards so nearly every room opened on to a shared patio with trees and flowers. Even those not opening to them, were close enough to access them easily for the less ambulatory residents. Sunlight and green, living things can make a world of difference!

That was when I had the old, massive Newhall garden. Twice a week, I would bring in a five gallon bucket of roses cut from that garden to refill the MANY vases covering every level spot in her room. It brought her garden in to her and helped keep her brain functioning through the game we devised of handing her a bloom and having her identify it. Other residents and their families would walk past her door and do double takes, often with exclamations of delight. We met many lovely people because of the roses and they definitely brought in new friends who became regular visitors. It was really great knowing that even when my sister and I weren't there, she had many other guests coming in to see "the rose lady". We got to know many rather well and I often found a rose which suited them either because of the name or some other association, to put in vases they brought in for their 'refills'.

Prior to having to live with skilled nursing, mom had an adult apartment which she could navigate in a chair, when her house couldn't be. Her neighbor was an 84 year old retired nurse. "Polly" had all of her marbles arranged by size and color. She had to retire because her ears and knees wore out. She and mom became great friends and usually got in trouble together. To thank Polly for her friendship and taking mom under her wing, making sure she was OK and had all she needed when we weren't there, I brought her a vase of "her roses".

Samaritan, Volunteer, Inner Wheel and anything else which fit her nursing career, generosity and gracious spirit joined the old HT, "Polly" in her vase of roses. When I presented it to her, I pointed out and identified each rose to her, explaining why they were "her roses". Mom said when I got to "Polly", her eyes lit up and she became very "coquettish". That vase of roses was lovingly taken back to her apartment that evening. The vase arrived back to mom's regularly when I was expected to visit, for its "refill". If I didn't put the Pollys in HER vase, she made sure they were put in hers and taken back home with her. Kim

Thanks, Jeri. There's now great research on how contact with plants and animals has a measurable positive effect on patient outcomes!

If anyone's interested, check out
Ulrich, R. S. (1984). "View through a window may influence recovery from surgery." Science, 224: 42-421.
and http://www.greenplantsforgreenbuildings.org/attachments/contentmanagers/25/HealthSettingsUlrich.pdf

Bless you, Kim! Your roses must have made such a difference to your mom and all around her!

Bless you, Kim! Your roses must have made such a difference to your mom and all around her!

Thank you Linda. The roses served their purposes, both when she used them to "train and educate me" as well as later when I used them to keep her going and participating. I've honestly not cut flowers for the house at home. They've always been cut to take elsewhere and given to others. Kim

Linda

I am relieved to hear you are doing well! Both my parents are in a long-term care facility. My sister and I chose one that is similar to the one Kim chose for his mother. My parents are in separate wings, but each wing connects with a courtyard garden/sitting area. Mom's and Dad's spirits seem to rise each time they encounter the roses in bloom.

Someday, I may pick up where I left off on a long-abandoned dissertation--one of my many, many unfinished projects. Maybe there's some fodder for an article or book, something about the importance of gardens and how they supply knowledge; provide us with sacred spaces; make us healthier, happier, more ethical people; and feed the constructive force of life itself.

It sounds like we are kindred spirits in our view that roses and gardens serve to heal our bodies and nourish our souls. Roses are VERY important.

Carol

Sounds like a great topic to pursue, Carol! Yes indeed we're kindred spirits - all of us who believe in the healing power of nature. What's cool is that hard science is now proving the concrete, measurable positive effects of nature-connection for all kinds of healing. My field is ecotherapy so I've been reading all that exciting research. If you haven't yet discovered Richard Louv's books "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder" and "The Nature Principle," I bet you'd love them.

So many people seem to think they don't have time for roses or roses aren't important - but they're medicine!

Kim, I think it's extra special that you grew the roses yourself instead of buying those chemical-laden imports from South America or wherever - who knows what's on them and how sick the poor growers got in spraying them.

Thank you, Linda. Plus, home grown are often quite fragrant. "Store bought" ones seldom are. I'd always felt anyone could BUY a bouquet. It took involvement to actually grow one. "Home made" is often more personal and meaningful. My sister has a sign in her home which reads: "We like giving home-made gifts. Which one of our kids would you like?!" Kim

Linda

Thank you for the reading list! It is always exciting when what one suspects is true turns out to be research-based knowledge.

Carol

Interesting post----I agree about the power of nature to heal people-----
Florence

Interesting post----I agree about the power of nature to heal people-----
Florence

For many years a local rose club committee met monthly through the summer and fall with buckets of roses and made bouquets to take to nursing homes. People who no longer even recognized their loved ones often recognized the roses. Now all the entries from the annual rose show are vased up for the nursing homes. Some of those rooms have nothing much else in them except two beds. It really does make a difference, even to the caregivers. I think roses bring back fond memories for many of us. Almost everyone has given or received a bouquet of roses sometime in their lives.

Kudos to that rose club----I'm sure they brought back some wonderful memories to the patients.

Florence

Oh, Tuggy! What a wonderful story! Thank you. It's interesting that clients recognized rose varieties even though many memories had faded, even memories connected to people.

Our school for at-risk youth created a lot-sized garden. It was powerful medicine!

Carol

Linda

Sorry you here you were in the hospital. I am so sorry you did not get a room with a view! One of the things I enjoyed when mom was there was the nice view from the various rooms. She was in the new wing. Kim, if you walked in the front door of the new wing, you would think you were at a 5 star hotel. (just not the same kind of room service...) The Ridley-Tree wing is incredible-but I think the Biltmore would be a more cost effective vacation hotel.

duplicate

This post was edited by Kippy-the-Hippy on Thu, Jun 20, 13 at 0:21

Gardens and roses are healing, but so are animals. These are purely anecdotal, but ...

We have a special needs daughter that was adopted as an older child from a horrific overseas orphanage. She's dealt with a lot of bad memories and sadness. The cat we have sleeps with her and follows her around like a puppy. On the occasions when I am depressed or sad, that cat will come and sit in my lap; I've found the purring of a cat to be really comforting. The rest of the time the cat ignores me unless he's hungry. I think the cat can feel Ruthie's emotional needs. I do know that he is a great comfort to her and has helped her, just as the roses in our garden are a joy to her. But the cat has helped more.

I once read of a therapy cat in a nursing home that made its way to the beds of dying patients; if the cat went to sleep on the bed of a patient, they were usually dead within a day or so. The cat's "success rate" at predicting dying patients was attributed to a fragrance that the patients put off and it was theorized the cat was drawn to it for some reason.

It may be that sadness or grief has its own fragrance detected by animals that we humans often miss detecting in each other. The fragrance of roses, though, seems to be life-encouraging, as are the colors. They have often lifted my spirits!

As I said, purely anecdotal stories.

Harborrose

The story of your daughter and your cat is such a sweet and telling one. Animals as well as humans do have healing gifts, and it sounds like you are quite a healer yourself! I believe there is significant literature supporting the healing power of touch and closeness, human and animal. Temple Grandin, who has done so much to bring the psychology of animals into the foreground, finds animals more comforting than humans. Please give your kitty an extra pat from me, and give your daughter a hug. My daughter is adopted, too. Carol

harborrose, a friend of mine is pioneering in a field called Trans-Species Psychology that's really fascinating. They're finding that many of the emotions we think of as "human" actually happen in many, many other animals. Of course we animal-lovers knew that, didn't we? But it's always nice to have the hard science folks confirm it so we can argue with those who think it's all bunkum.

Kim, you're so right that fragrance is key. Nothing more frustrating than to smell a beautiful rose and ... nothing. I think "aromatherapy" is part of the rose's healing power and magic...

What wonderful stories everyone! Linda, I'm glad you're doing better and back with us on GW! Kim, I've loved your tale of your mother and Polly since I read it on hmf years ago! Tuggy, that's heartwarming that the rose society recognizes how much their show roses would be appreciated by that community. Gean, I'm so glad that you've found such a calming and supportive presence from your cat for Ruthie, in addition to the loving home she now has. Beyond anecdotes, there's starting to be some nice research for children and adults with disabilities about the supportive role of animals in various kinds of therapy. The most convincing results have come in emotional support, in combination with other forms of support. I suspect part of the effect of the animals may be the personal and predictable attention they provide with no judgment whatsoever.

In addition to the connection to nature and sense of purpose and future that gardens provide to all of us, and people in hospitals and nursing homes in particular, I think that flowers and perhaps roses specifically also build a sense of community. Some of that is simply the chance to show off and share them when given roses, as Kim's story illustrates. We had a chance for community building around flowers in our department on behalf of Mrs. Ricketts, who donated money toward ongoing support of a student learning center. She wanted to do something to help students, and really appreciated the connection in seeing that effect take root. We'd invite her to classes and other events, but the whole department threw her a party on her birthday, and everyone that had a garden contributed flowers and greenery toward huge bouquets all over the room that she took home and showed off to everyone.

For the last 15 years of her life, we did this together for her, and she loved seeing the 100s of students join in this party as part of that community. In fact, she told her daughter she no longer wanted a separate family birthday party and instead invited her family to our celebration for her. We kept scrapbooks of the bouquets and people and laughs she received, and her daughter mentioned that those were the proud "family" albums on her coffee table. The only year we had to buy flowers was a drought year when I was moving between homes, and Mrs. RIcketts very politely thanked us for the florist bouquets but indicated how much more she appreciated the homegrown flowers. She was a gardener herself in younger days, and had commented on some Moonlight nasturtiums I'd contributed the first year - since I'm known for being a gardener in the department, I tended to bring in buckets of flowers and arrange everyone's contributions into bouquets. Ever since then, I made sure to plant those nasturtiums for her, and I considered them Mrs. Ricketts' flowers.

When her health finally failed in her mid-nineties, sharp as ever, her daughter let us know that she was in a lovely hospice facility nearby. Being rose (and nasturtium) season in mid-summer, I popped by with flowers for her each week, and chatted with her about which blooms she liked best, to customize them for her in the next week's bouquet. Generous as always, I'd sometimes pick up the vases from someone else's room since she "still had hers" from the previous week. Now that she's passed, I still plant Mrs. Ricketts' nasturtiums in my yard and cut a bouquet in August in her memory.

The lovely thing about roses and other flowers, is that it's a gift that blesses us and everyone else around us, year after year.

Cynthia

Not all animals are that "unconditional". The Great White Hunter has been here six months now. She uses everyone else as tools to get what she wants, always running to me for "protection". I can do just about anything to her and she comes back for more. I'm the one she snuggles and follows (The Stalker) everywhere, but there are things she judges. There are times when a particular bodily function must be accomplished. It's one you do when no one else is around to hear or notice it. The Stalker is always there and SHE judges it. The other two pay no attention. They don't move, nor take any notice of it as long as you don't move, forcing them to move. Not Lula. She jumps, runs, makes several "snorts" then gets in my face as if to ask, "WHAT did you do!?" After a few minutes, she's glued to me, once again. But, she definitely judges and tells you about it. Kim

Cynthia, thanks for the lovely story about Mrs. Ricketts. So true that roses build community, especially when we share them rather than have them "compete" with each other.

I have read that there is a Chinese saying "The gift perfumes the hand of the giver." How much more so if the gift is a rose.

Cath

That idea of generosity as illustrated in Cath's saying of giving being an enrichment to one's self is counter-intuitive.

But I've found it and this proverb from the Old Testament to be true in my life, "Generous persons will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed."

It's true with roses given to others as well as kindness or in whatever other ways we give. Giving becomes a blessing to the giver, I think. The stories above illustrate this; Tuggy, I'm going to see about our roses at the rose show being given to a local nursing home. I also know our little once-so-needy daughter has become a tremendous blessing in my life and in my husband's. The giver often becomes the receiver.

Ah, come on Kim - Lula has the makings of a therapy dog! One that needs therapy, perhaps, but still... At least she's observant?

Seriously, I love all these examples of roses as a catalyst to encourage generosity and joy in ourselves and those around us. Makes all the thorns and sweat worth it.

Cynthia

Incredibly observant, Cynthia! I find her remarkable in her ability and willingness to use people as tools. She tolerates everyone but me for what she can get out of them and what she can get them to do for her. Once she has what she wants, she has nothing to do with anyone but me. "I" am her safety blanket. For anyone considering getting a dog...remember the FIRST person to touch the animal is the one who belongs to it. When the groomer/breeder brought her, it was orchestrated that she should be handed to me. It worked! She is cautious and suspicious of any and everyone else and plays them for all the treats she can get from them. Then, she runs to me, placing one foot on my body to 'claim me' as hers. Reach for her and she shrinks from all hands but mine. If I attempt to hand her to anyone, she responds as if I am trying to put her in a bath tub full of something really revolting. She's passive enough, but she just isn't interested in being intimate with anyone but me. She plays up to my housemate to get treats or let outside (her biggest thrill, so she can HUNT!), but once I get home, "What's your name?" She minds and obeys commands, but she isn't willing to let you hold or pet her. Me? She's all over me like white on rice, DEMANDING attention all the time. Don't get too close as she will charge you to "protect" me. She won't bite but she will intimidate you very effectively. Beauregard would have been the therapy dog. He loves EVERYONE, as long as I'm not around. He jostles Lula for the rights to "protect" me, leading to some scuffles between them. He's the lump, completely happy to flop and wallow on anyone who will permit him. Kim

One day, I want to meet the little lady. No. I know enough not to be pushy with her -- but it is clear that she is a special person.

Jeri

Any time you're up for the heat, drive and stairs to see the roses, you're welcome. Besides, there are a dozen canned ones here with your name on them....(hint, hint) Kim

Well, it's the heat. And it's the knees. Blamed knees.

But yes. We need to work that out.

Jeri

Give me a month or so (grand baby due) and you can visit our garden...no steps (if you come in/out the right gates)

And go home with more zucchini that you want

Give me a month or so (grand baby due) and you can visit our garden...no steps (if you come in/out the right gates)

And go home with more zucchini that you want

Kim, I laughed so hard at your little dog. It brought back memories of my little six pound Peke-a-Poo. Anytime someone would, let's put this delicately, "pass gas", she would jump to her feet, put her nose in the air and make an elaborate show of sniffing the air. She would then stalk out of the room. I'd never heard of another dog doing that until I read your story. She lived to be 19 years old and did this almost to the very end.