High Elevation Gardening Web Log "Blog"

On November 5, the Arizona Horticultural Therapy Association held their 3rd annual conference at Mesa Community College, titled "Cultivating Awareness". The keynote speaker was Teresia Hazen, M.Ed, HTR, QMHP from Legacy Helath Systems in Portland, OR. Ms Hazen works in a large health care facility in Oregon that has Horticultural Therapy as an important part of patient/family healing. The national HT Conference will be held at Legacy in 2006 from June 14-16. The theme is Gardens in Healthcare: Restoring Health and Wellness. There willl also be some pre/post conference special events. If you are interested in attending information is posted on their web site - www.ahta.org. The conference agenda will not be finalized until spring as the deadline for presentation submissions is January 5.

In her keynote, Teresia outlined 3 benefits of gardening in healthcare. The benefits included decreasing patient stress, improving satisfaction of patients and staff, and improvement in retaining staff. The 5 characteristics of therapeutic gardens included: scheduled and programmed activities, garden features modified to improve accessibility, a profusion of plants and people/plant interactions, a safe, secure and comfortable setting for people, and gardens designed for the convenience and enjoyment of people with the widest possible range of disabling conditions. She also outlined a research study that promotes support for gardens in healthcare by Roger S. Ulrich, "View through a window may influence recovery from surgery." Science. 224 (April 1984): 420-1. Last of all she outlined a best practice model for an interdisciplinary garden design team for developing a healthcare garden.

The second speaker was Cindy Odgers, MS, Chair Dept. of Agriculture and Technology at Mesa Community College. Her topic was Propagation Techniques. She outlined the basic types of propagation techiques, demonsstrated methods for determining seed viability, and outlined techiques for taking cuttings from stock plant of herbaceous perennials.

The third speaker was Carole Palmer, MG, from Navajo County who works with children in the St. Michael's Association for Special Education. She talked about adaptive tools for gardening and gave resources for obtaining manufactured tools and ideas for making your own.

Last of all was Max Miller, PhD, and member of the Phoenix Bonsai Society. He talked about the history of Bonsai (Art & Craft), gave a demonstration of how to create and care for Bonsai (tools & techniques), and suggested how it could be used to teach a marketable skill and teach patience. After seeing all that Bonsai involves, I have decided that at much as I admire it, I don't think I have the patience for it, but many people love it.

Each year this conference brings in local and national talent to help those working in Horticultural Therapy or learning about the field, to learn techniques for working with special populations and improving hortiultural techniques. Next year we hope to hold the conference in Flagstaff sometime in August. It is open to all who are interested, not just those trained in Horticultural Therapy.

In addition to attending the conference in Mesa, I checked out two garden centers that local HTs gave me. One was Tera's Garden, which is in downtown Phoenix (606 N. 4th Avenue). Tera's is a unique garden center. She has many plants, but the fun part of her home/store are the unique pots and garden art. I purchased a plant stake with a butterfly on top that has a small solar panel that makes the butterfly glow at night. It is hard to describe her store, but it and she are magical. Try it on your next trip to the valley.

The second store I went to was Southwest Garden Arts. They have 2 stores - one in Mesa (8213 E. Main) and one in Phoenix. If you are looking for a water feature it is a must stop for ideas. I have never seen so many fountains and such variety in garden art. It is a huge store. I was looking for of all things a flamingo - yes a flamingo. It was for a resident of the Hospice Home who insisted we have a flamingo in the garden. I found a wonderful plant stake with a flamingo that has a gazing ball for a body. I could have spent days just looking around their yard. Some things about the valley are fun!

If you want further information on AHTA check out their web sites or e-mail/call me for a brochure.

Loni Shapiro
Member AzHTA
928-522-8635 maxmaddy@infomagic.net