Top 10 Holiday Gift Plants for Seniors on Your Gift List

This is the season we celebrate life, joy, goodwill and peace. It’s most appropriate to give a living gift that can provide enjoyment, generate smiles and calm stressed nerves. For senior friends and relatives, a plant suitable for a windowsill is a wonderful gift that keeps giving joy, initiating pleasant conversation and triggering fond memories months after the Christmas decorations are packed away.
You might want to consider for an aging friends or relatives easy plants such as African violets, begonias, peace lilies, rosemary, ferns, a windowsill herb garden, a palm or ivy. The therapeutic value of caring for a plant that literally depends on us, that will grow and bloom for us, and encourages us to look forward to tomorrow can’t be under estimated.

Don’t neglect the potential for whimsy in horticultural gift giving. There is the traditional Chia pet, a coffee plant for the Starbucks addict on your list, or catnip for the feline friendly. The tools of gardening also make great gifts, like the user friendly Fiskars pruning shears. Garden books, decorative containers, moisture meters, fertilizers, like Zoo-Doo also make great and useful gifts. Creative readers of this blog can make a distinctive garden hat, personalized pots and unique containers, laminated seed packet markers, etc. for their gardening friends.

Important factors to remember when selecting plants for giving includeMatch the gift plant to the person’s interests and abilities

Match the gift plant to the setting the person can provide. Indoor space, outdoor space, sunny window, sunroom, patio, conservatory greenhouse, shade garden, etc.

Purchase the plant as close to the time it will be given as is convenient, but don’t wait until Christmas eve to find that perfect poinsettia.

Keeping plants viable until they are given.Remember that all plants need light, water and air to live. Denied these big three for even a short time can seriously affect their appearance, producing a gift with yellow foliage, dropping leaves, moldy flowers, or gift wrapped compost.

The cooler we can keep cyclamen, Christmas cactus, mums, mini-roses, amaryllis and lilies the better the chances of an attractive bloom on the big day.   

Don’t keep gift plants in those plastic sleeves or decorative pot covers while waiting for Christmas morning. Unless the gift is a water lily there needs to be drainage provision. Keeping a plant in a plastic bag doesn’t satisfy this need.

Keeping them alive after the batteries in the toys are all dead and the ornaments are all packed away.There are plants that are best treated as a bouquet. When they are done blooming they can become compost. Forced tulips, potted & decorated spruce trees, potted ornamental cypress, cineraria and calceolaria are examples of plants that were designed by nature for a brief but glorious moment on a sunny windowsill.

Plants that will make an effective addition to the outdoor landscape should be moved out there as soon as possible. Hollies, junipers, cedars and most other evergreens aren’t well adapted to life indoors. Living Christmas trees like blue spruce, cedar, juniper and holly will tolerate a couple weeks in the living room if they are kept watered, but they need their place in the cool winter sun as soon as possible.

Poinsettias, mums, amaryllis, kalanchoes, begonias and cyclamen will continue to bloom with enthusiasm on a sunny windowsill. Ivies, ferns, peace lilies, anthuriums, ficus and many others are quite content to enjoy an extended stay with you, as long as they get sufficient light and water.

Most plants living indoors should be kept evenly moist but not soggy. The easiest way to do this is to place them in a saucer of water and let them soak it up until the soil surface is moist, dump and excess water from the saucer and let the plant drain for a while. Then don’t water again until the soil surface is dry.

Get the gift plants out of those plastic sleeves as soon as possible. They can hold enough waster to drown your plants.

Top 10 Holiday plants for senior citizensBased on ease of care, color and safety

10. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme windowsill herb garden is #10 on the list but is a great gift that can be useful for many seasons to come, is safe and easy to grow.

9. Ferns, the common Boston ferns, Ruffles and others are easy to grow, are a great reminisce plant and can be decorated for the season.

8. Ivy is rugged and eager to grow. It can be found as topiaries in Christmas tree, hoop, heart, and globe shapes. You can also find ivy hanging baskets or small decorative pots. This is an inexpensive, yet dependable, plant

7. Mint is# 7 on the list. It is rugged, easy, aromatic and can be used throughout the winter. It can be planted outdoors in the spring.

6. African Violets are not often thought of as a traditional Christmas plant, but they are ideal, colorful, easy to grow and propagate, few insect problems and a great reminisce plant.

5. Norfolk Pines are found in all sizes from tiny 3" pots to 6' trees. They are often available decorated with lights and ornaments, but you can theme the decorations yourself and make it a truly unique gift plant that will thrive for years with little effort.

4. Christmas cactus are great for color and ease of care. They are now available in a wide variety of colors from red to white, pink, lavender and even creamy yellow. They are also easy to start and share as a pass along plant and can live for generations.

3. Rosemary is # 3on the list because it is so aromatic, easy to grow, safe for people and pets and makes a great addition to a wide variety of meals.

2. Mini-Roses are #2 because they are so colorful, so easy to grow and will bloom in spite of you. They will thrive indoors and out as long as they get enough light and water.


1. Poinsettiasare the #1 plant for this season. They now come in a variety of colors and the "bloom" (really modified leaf bracts) will remain colorful for several months. They can be kept to rebloom next year, but this can be a challenge. They are best treated as a long lasting bouquet, not a perennial.

10 holiday plants that are dangerous when ingestedIf there is the possibility of ingesting leaves or other plant parts avoid plants on the danger list below. The same plants can also be harmful to cats and dogs if chewed or swallowed.

1. Mistletoe

2. Holly leaves and berries 

3. Amaryllis

4. Azalea

5. Cyclamen

6. Philodendron

7. Florist primrose

8. Narcissus

9. Tulips

10. Anthurium

Other great SAFE plants for holiday giving include
Chia pets, they make a great whimsy planter and the cats love ‘em.

Orchids are easier than you think

Kalanchoes

Dianthus

Geraniums

Begonias

Bromeliads

Palms

Mums

Lavender

Combination planters

Terrariums

These plants that have become a part of the celebration of the Christmas season can continue to give life and color to the home long after the Christmas decorations are packed away. They can bring joy to seniors living in their own home or in a senior community. They can inspire pleasant thoughts and trigger fond memories. They also serve as subjects for conversation.

Special thanks to Lowes Home Improvement Stores and Smiths Supermarkets for many of the photos used in this article. The quality and diversity of plants in these stores was exceptional.

Charles Lewis Garden of Opportunities

Wanted to share a few thoughts that seem to be getting some traction in the past couple months.  I welcome your thoughts, suggestions and ideas. The following is little more than a wish list at this point.  We need to find a location and funding before we can get serious. 
A model home for accessible gardening
What if we created a "Model Home" for accessible gardening and horticultural therapy in New Mexico? This could be a place to serve the special needs in every community, improve quality of life, and demonstrate ways we can to work together to cultivate peace within ourselves and throughout the community. This can be combination of classroom and garden setting for the healthcare community, senior services and children with special needs. This can be a site where research can be conducted and professionals can gain insight into the value of the people-plant connection and the healing garden while individuals can be empowered.

Empowerment, quality of life, individual, family and community health are all the harvest we can reap from a truly accessible garden that goes beyond food production to cultivate hope, pride, interaction, cooperation and improved diet.

It would be only right to dedicate this garden to the memory of Charles Lewis, a true visionary in the exploration of the people-plant connection and one of the pioneers of modern horticultural therapy. His Green Nature - Human Nature is one of those pivotal books that provides so much insight into the way the garden can transform people, be a place of healing, and an inspiration. Charles Lewis was a resident of Albuquerque for a number of years and continues to influence the direction of horticultural therapy and the interaction between people and plants. This garden could be used in a number of ways to showcase the possibilities and help to express his dreams. The following could be a part of the Charles Lewis Garden of Opportunities

Vegetable gardensA raised bed does not make a garden accessible.
This could be a place with truly accessible gardens; table gardens, vertical gardens, trellises and arbors. All are simple ways that the art of gardening can be combined with the grand traditions of the kitchen/backyard garden. Here we can learn from each other, share the foods of New Mexico’s diverse cultures and the techniques that make the family garden successful for all. Less than 10% of Americans community gardens are wheelchair accessible.

Horticultural Therapy programsThis could be a site with "classroom" space to conduct indoor horticultural therapy programs for visitors from local senior care communities, adult day care programs, rehab and treatment programs, youth programs and more. A place where elements of the community can be welcomed for specific programs, special needs populations can have on-going programs with activities, engagement and empowerment.

Training programThis could provide a site where classes can be conducted for professionals, senior care, community and educational staff, family and professional caregivers and healthcare professionals. The elders involved are also the resource and the teacher

Research
We could provide a place where research can be conducted on ways that horticultural therapy can be most effectively used in a variety of venues, including:

Hospital healing gardens; Cancer treatment and general surgery recovery
Adult day care
Senior care and progressive care services
Alzheimer’s programs
End-of-Life & hospice
Family caregivers and professional staff
Children and adults with special needs
Victims of trauma, domestic violence or PTSD

Some possible research projects
Ratio of gardening traditions and incidence of Alzheimer’s, initial study
Ways to most effectively promote engagement between family and the one with Alzheimer’s
End-of-Life & hospice, was to make best use of a hospice/grief garden
Value of the people-plan connection for preparation for those facing end-of-life
Ways to use the garden as an element of anticipatory grief and dealing with caregiver stress
Ways to most effectively use a children’s garden setting in hospitals
Cancer patients, rate of recovery times and controlling negative impact of treatments
Family caregivers and stress reduction through passive garden time and active engagement

Elements of the Charles Lewis Garden of OpportunitiesAn enclosed garden area where features of a healing/paradise garden can be created to explore the most effective use of this setting for people with special needs. Features will include:

Enclosure, green, artistic
Walkways & wander paths
Seating and shade
Reminisce gardens
Scratch & Sniff sensory experiences
Water features, pool with fish, turtles, butterflies, ladybugs
Fruit and vegetables
Meditation stations
Conversation stations with sensory elements
Whimsy, feeding the sense of humor
Discoveries, feeding the sense of wonder

Life skills elements

Dirty Hands and Active Minds Part 2

In Part 1 we discussed the problems with a gardening program at the Three Hills Senior Center and explored some of the reasons these programs often fail.  In Part 2 we follow the folks at Three Hills as they discover was to use their garden area as a therapeutic resource.  Hope you enjoy the rest of this story.  I welcome your thoughts, ideas and comments.
Peace, Hank Bruce

Defining the program before you begin.


Dr. Bennett revived the horticultural therapy program at Three Hills by bringing Jessica, an experienced horticultural therapist, in for a training session for the staff. In two days she introduced everyone from the administrator to the maintenance crew to the field of horticultural therapy. She did this by engaging staff and residents in a little hands-on activity where they had fun learning the basic objectives for such a program, and how to implement them.

She explained that there are universal objectives, such as:
∙ Empowerment
∙ Increased socialization
∙ Sensory stimulation
∙ Physical activity
∙ Mental stimulation
∙ Increased participation

Then she discussed Individual Treatment Goals.
They reviewed the charts of five residents who had expressed interest in a gardening program. They discussed specific expectations, limitations and needs. Then they wrote a list of three objectives for each participant in the program, and several possible ways to achieve these. The residents selected a “JOB” from a list and this became the basis for their participation and evaluation.

∙ Gladys needed to work on her balance and proper body mechanics. She accepted the job of tying the vines to the trellis every three days.

∙ Jimmy was dealing with chronic depression and needed to work on awareness of his surroundings. He chose the responsibility for monitoring water needs with the moisture meter.

∙ Maureen needed to improve her confidence level and interpersonal skills. She was given the responsibility of deadheading the flowers in the entry way garden.

∙ Carl had some problems with attention span and details. But when he selected the job of tending the roses he became a rose expert.

∙ Bernie had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and displayed moments of anger and inability to follow directions. She worked with the “Reminisce Garden” planted with safe, non-toxic sensory plants. She spent a good deal of time talking to her “silent friends” and a few fellow gardeners as well.

Cultivating success
So often horticultural therapy programs that begin with a burst of enthusiasm and initial success falter and fail within months and many don’t survive to the second year. This can be prevented with a little planning ahead, and including the participants in the process from start to finish.

The site
Next Jessica walked through the courtyard discussing some of the elements that limited resident activity there. These included narrow walkways, little shade, limited access to the plants, little opportunity to be actively engaged. It was a beautiful landscape, but it was designed to be a passive rather than active experience. She suggested:
∙ The addition of a gazebo and a couple shade canopies
∙ Several vertical gardens and a “covered bridge” that provided easy access to plant material, an active experience and shade.
∙ Portable gardens that made gardening activities accessible for wheelchair users, and those who had mobility limitations.
∙ A whimsy pool with rubber ducky races, a potted cattail, a water lily, a real live turtle and several goldfish.
∙ A butterfly garden, created in cooperation with a local elementary school.
∙ Curbing on the walkways to help keep wheelchairs from tipping.
∙ Most popular was the Barefoot Park compete with bubbles and a beanbag court.

It should be noted that the residents made the bean bags and helped compile a list of features for the garden. They planted around the covered bridge with plants they selected by voting, and even painted rubber ducks as a part of an multi-generational program.

The gardening activities involved both indoor and outdoor projects, and not everyone was doing the same thing. Often they worked as teams, helping each other, sharing memories and new discoveries. Many of the projects involved starting plants from seeds or cuttings. These would become their individual “windowsill gardens.” Often they would make planters to give to friends, folks at the nearby hospital, and staff.

Evaluation
Bernie worked with the Reminisce Garden. Often she would sit on the ground and pet the leaves of the Lambs Ears or smell the mints, or pull the petals from the roses and throw them in the air.
Her treatment goals included:
Finding her way to the Reminisce Garden each day
Strolling the entire courtyard following the “Wandering Way Path, (painted pink)
Reducing anger and agitation
Sharing memories
Following simple directions in a 1-2 sequence
Engaging in meaningful shared activities

With most forms of dementia the goal is not to follow a treatment plan leading to healing, but it is a matter improving the quality of life for the individual and the family. This can involve sensory and mental stimulation, delaying decline, providing some positive moments, connecting with the person dwelling within, and engaging with the surroundings and other people. But most of all it requires us to accept the individual as a fellow human being and respect them as such.

Each day her activities were briefly noted in each of the treatment goals, and a weekly summary was prepared. At the end of the three month program overall response was reviewed with staff and a new set of treatment goals and activities was prepared. It should be noted that her anger outbursts began to decline within the first week and were rare by the end of the first three months.

For others the Individual Treatment Goals included:
∙ Improved range of motion
∙ Reduced need for anti-depressive medications
∙ Engaging in group activities
∙ Successful problem solving
∙ Accepting responsibilities

Soon the residents formed a Green Thumb Club that included many gardeners who did not have Individual Treatment Goals. All the residents engaged in the decision making process, and had the freedom to do individual projects as well as the group activities.

Investing in a Professional

Gardening activities and horticultural therapy programs can function best, and be most productive, when a professional horticultural therapist is active in the design, implementation and progress of the program. If there is not funding available to hire a horticultural therapist, have one conduct a staff training program for your facility. This is a good investment.

For more information on this contact Hank Bruce & Tomi Jill Folk at Petals & Pages Press. They also have a list of books on the field of horticultural therapy that provide a wealth of projects and activities for your clients.

Dirty Hands & Active Minds, part 1

Gardening Programs for Seniors,

Why some are successful and others aren't

The following is part 1 of a true story about a horticultural therapy program in central Florida a few years ago that almost failed.  This is adapted from Dirty Hands and Active Minds, a horticultural therapy course Hank Bruce offers for activity professionals and senior care communties.

Conversation in the courtyard
Dr. Bennett was reviewing the activities program with the Three Hills Senior Center when they walked out onto the patio. The landscaping crew was busy trimming the shrubs and cleaning the flower beds while maintenance was cleaning the fountain. There wasn’t a resident in sight.

“I thought you had a horticultural therapy program here,” Dr Bennett commented as he walked over to a raised bed with a few withered plants crying for a drink.

“Oh, we tried it,” Betty responded, but there was little interest. “We brought in a series of speakers, but few attended the lectures.”

Dr. Bennett sat down at the concrete table, almost too hot to touch in the blistering hot afternoon sun. “Did you contact the horticultural therapist I recommended? Did you get the project books on the list?”

“Well, NO.” Betty responded with a touch of pride in her voice, “We found a master gardener who volunteered. Didn’t cost us a penny.”

“Do you have a list of goals and objectives for your program?” he continued.

“Why, the objective was to get them off their duffs and out here with the flowers. Maintenance has gone to a lot of effort to clean this place up for them.” After a pause, she continued, “I have a lot of work to do and I don’t think this is working.”

“I see,” he was now frowning, “But, I sent you the program outline from Sterling Oaks. Didn’t you follow that?”

"Naw. The master gardener said that they might not take proper care of the plants, and they would die.”

A Dozen reasons why this program died:
1. There were no stated goals. Why are we doing this?

2. The residents were treated as spectators rather than active participants. It never became their program.

3. Few on the staff were aware of the existence of the program, and didn’t have a clue as to why they were doing it. It just looked like more work to them.

4. The courtyard area where the program was to take place had no shade, and the gardens were not accessible. The location for the activities, indoors and out must be comfortable, safe and convenient.

5. Failure to understand that IT’S ABOUT THE PEOPLE, NOT THE PLANTS.

6. The master gardener had received no training in horticultural therapy theory or practice.

7. There was no mechanism in place to evaluate the program and individual participation or progress.

8. Activities and projects were not appropriate for clients age, ability, culture, education, seasonal flow.

9. There was no follow through and follow up of projects. Show off time.

10. Physical, emotional, and social factors were not integrated into the activities.

11. Failure to include the clients in the decision making process.

12. Facility failure to understand the value of such a program.

People grow in the garden too

But, most important was the failure to accept the client’s potential as well as the limitations. So often we focus on the “Can’t do’s that we constrain the participant. This is true of children with special needs as well as seniors. Sp often, when we give the freedom to try we discover that both people and plants can grow in the garden. It’s called the People-Plant Connection.

In Part 2 we will discuss some special ways to make the experience more enjoyable fo all.

All I Needed to Know About Life I learned in the Garden

George is a retired teacher. NO, that’s not quite true. He’s still teaching. He spends his Saturday mornings teaching composting classes at the community garden center. He delights in getting his hands dirty, but enjoys even more watching the children get their hands dirty feeding the earth worms, turning the piles of compost and tending the plants in the multigenerational community garden.

He sits and talks with the kids about how math and science are a part of gardening. Then he shares a little gardening history, gives them little hands-on quizzes and talks about the difference between healthy home grown food and the junk found in their backpacks. Sometimes they will even prepare a salad, or share some of the fresh strawberries. He started this garden with the hope that the kids would come if it looked like fun. It succeeded beyond all expectations and now many of the kids bring their families along. Others have started their own family garden in the backyard at home. One family even lined the sidewalk with chile peppers and rainbow chard.

George, the kids and some volunteers made some interesting observations about the garden as an outdoor classroom. Part of this article came from their comments.

Why the Garden is Better Than TV
■ The scenes change faster than the images on the TV cartoons. Just watch a hummingbird.
■ There is real life terror, from flesh & blood monsters. I’m talking about fire ants, mosquitoes, hornets, spiders and snakes.
■ The music is fast paced and even more cacophonous than your favorite music channel, particularly when the cicadas and grackles are performing.
■ You can’t smell the TV screen like you can fresh moist earth, tomato vines or roses.
■ There are no reruns in the garden. Each season is different and unique, and each day comes with its own surprises, just waiting for you to discover.

Lessons Learned and Lasting Values Cultivated
In a society that seems to be preoccupied with values and virtues, perhaps we should turn to the garden for a few lessons. These are a few of the lessons we can learn from the people-plant connection, lessons for all ages.

Patience A thirty second sound bite doesn’t teach us how to wait for results, but growing roses and tomatoes does.

Planning ahead Part of gardening is preparation for the future. We have to formulate expectations and then work toward them. Knowing that we can actually influence the future is empowering, for both children and adults.

Responsibility The plants in the garden depend on us for water, care and sustenance. We soon learn the consequences of failure to meet our responsibilities, but we also experience the joy that comes from fulfilling these obligations.

Cooperation We learn not only to cooperate with others, but also with the forces of nature, the climate and even the plants themselves.

Handling disappointment We experience both success and disappointment in the garden. Sometimes we know loss through no fault of our own. Life doesn’t always happen the way we wish it would. We all must learn to accept and grow from loss. We also have to learn how to graciously accept the gift of success.

Faith It takes a lot of faith to plant a seed and expect to smell a flower or taste the salad sometime in the future. This act of gardening also requires confidence in ourselves and trust in the future.

Confidence We learn in the garden that we can be a part of the growth process, in both ourselves and the living things that we are cultivating. We learn that we can succeed. Confidence is the seed that produces such beautiful flowers as pride and self-worth.

Empowerment In the garden we are empowered by making decisions, experiencing success and being in a partnership with the Creator.

We may think we are cultivating a few flowers, herbs or vegetables, but the real harvest is ourselves. We all have a lot to learn, and teach, in the garden. If you want to discover these lessons for yourself, take a child by the hand and work with him or her in the garden. It will all come to you, each virtue in its own season.

Adapted from Garden Projects for the Classroom and Special Learning Programs,
by Hank Bruce & Tomi Jill Folk, published by Petals & Pages Press, 2004, petals_pages@msn.com