At first it was just some potted plants on a balcony at the Alpine Summit Seniors Lodge. Pat Wilson, a flower lover and avid gardener, planted some seeds during the snowy months, to green up the space during the dreary winter.
Agnes Hisey and other residents also got involved, potting tomatoes and geraniums and setting them up around the lodge to grow during the winter.
May 23, Hisey, Wilson and their friends lingered over their tea in the dining room after lunch. Wilson said the balcony looks beautiful with all the plants starting to bloom, and that they create a great atmosphere for the happy hour she hosts every other week.
“We don’t just have tea up there,” quipped Florence Mason, raising her eyebrows and shaking her head, as the corners of her mouth turned up.
A few weeks ago, many of those plants moved from the balcony to the backyard, where a greenhouse was constructed at the lodge. Hisey and Wilson transferred many of the plants there, and also helped to seed several vegetable gardens outside, creating a network of fauna that many residents have fallen in love with.
You can find Hisey out there most days, puttering around, checking on tomatoes or watering green beans. She explained that for many residents at Alpine Summit, the plants are a source of great joy: it’s almost like a kind of therapy spending time close to plant life.
Standing in the greenhouse wearing gardening gloves and a sun hat, Hisey recalled a nurse she knew, who said that when she petted her cat her blood pressure would drop significantly.
Hisey said she believes the same is true for people when they spend time close to plants. Digging your fingers into the earth relaxes the body and soul, she said, but even for those who can’t really get their hands dirty, even spending time in the greenhouse can calm the spirit.
“It’s so nice and warm on a day like this; it’s so cozy.” Hisey said. “It’s like therapy.”
She remembered that as Wilson was decking out the patio with blooms, she started growing tomatoes in pots during the winter. She explained that as they started to mature it began to feel like the whole upstairs was a jungle of budding tomato plants.
Grazing the plants with her gloved hand, Hisey explained that she stored one of them in another resident’s room over the winter, and the woman got such joy out of watching its progress as it grew that she left it there for her instead of taking it down to the greenhouse with the rest of its brothers.
Like many of the residents at Alpine Summit, Marcy Cariou likes to visit the greenhouse often, to take in the fresh smell and leafy décor.
Last Friday, Hisey helped her through the doors, taking Cariou’s hand as she stepped over a ridge, leaving her walker behind. Inside, Cariou glanced around, a wide grin on her face. The two ladies chatted for a while amongst the plants, before Cariou edged back to her walker and headed off down the garden path.
On her way back inside, she passed Hisey, who knelt in the soil.
“I think it’s beautiful; I think we’re so lucky. And [Hisey] does such a great job—but she shouldn’t bend down so much,” Cariou said, smiling at Hisey as the green thumb maneuvered a large clay flower pot through the dirt.
