I’ve always had an interest in gardening. It’s a love I inherited from my Mama. Her favorite flowers were irises and roses. As far back as I can remember, Mama always enjoyed growing things. One time, she ordered 27 dwarf fruit trees to plant in our backyard. Even though we lived in a neighborhood, the trees were very small, and our backyard accommodated them nicely. It did take us several days to get them all planted. As it turned out, a few years after the great tree planting took place, my parents bought some property in the country, and yup, all the trees needed digging back up and replanting at their new home. I wasn’t involved in that second tree planting. I was married by then and living in Washington State, as my husband was in the Army.
Gardens – my happy place
My love for gardening has never dimmed. Our home in California had multiple gardens – each one named for a child or grandchild. I tried to plant gardens that reflected their personalities or flowers they liked.
When we moved across the country to North Carolina, we bought a house that was a rather blank canvas. There were only a few scraggly bushes and two horrible, fruitless Bradford Pear trees. As soon as we could, we began removing trees and reshaping the ground. Re-imagining what our gardens would look like in our new South-Eastern world was fun. It took several years to change the main landscape, and there were several plant fails while I learned the difference between the West and East Coast gardening. It turns out the learning process is a lifetime endeavor.
Pollinator Garden Habitat
Near the beginning of 2026, we learned that our city was looking for people who would be willing to plant ‘Pollinator Habitats’. It sounded like something we could do, so we decided to apply. As part of the application process, I needed to list all of our native plants to see if we qualified. I was shocked to discover how many trees and flowers we had planted that were nonnative to North Carolina. Even my Jane Magnolia (which I was sure would be a native).
Thankfully, I was able to come up with a long enough list of native plants to submit. They sent us the notice that we had qualified and needed to pick up the sign to display, indicating that we were a pollinator habitat.
When we picked up the sign, it was much nicer than I had imagined – I thought it would be like one of those political signs that sprout up every election cycle. It turned out that it is coated metal, very substantial, and very pretty. The person in charge encouraged us to display it creatively. Challenge accepted.
I wandered through Pinterest to see if I could get some ideas, but nothing really jumped out at me. Since the sign was a bit heavy, I knew we would need a strong post to start with. I checked Amazon to see if there were any planters that would complement the sign. Once I saw the geese planters, I got an idea.
Wayne and I began gathering all the separate elements we would need to display the sign, and once that happened, it all came together quickly. The hardest part was finding the native North Carolina plants I wanted to put near the sign.
Gardening really is good for you!
Around this time, I came across an article “Why Gardening Is So Good for You”. Well, that caught my attention. It mentioned several features of gardening benefits I had never realized before. I simply want to grow flowers, but hey – I’ll take any additional benefits that go along with it.
Neurosurgeon and spine specialist Deborah Benzil, MD, explained that gardening affects nearly every part of your health, from your mood and brain function to your muscles and bones. The article continued by listing the various ways gardening is good for us. The areas include both mental and physical health benefits.
Gardening Health Benefits
Mental health benefits
- Helps relieve stress
- Improves mood
- Supports brain health
- Fosters social connections
- Offers accessible options
Physical health benefits
- Provides a multifaceted workout
- Supports healthy bones
- Offers the benefits of sunshine
- Provides fresh air
Second opinion on gardening benefits
Gardening helps bones??? That was encouraging, but I needed a second opinion. After a bit of research, I found a study by the University of Arkansas about gardening helping bone health, Got Weeds? University Of Arkansas Researchers Say Yard Work Builds Strong Bones.
The second opinion regarding mental health benefits to came from a research paper from PubMed. “The impact of gardening on well-being, mental health, and quality of life: an umbrella review and meta-analysis”. This umbrella review included 40 studies. They reported an overall positive impact of gardening activities on several measures of mental well-being, quality of life, and health status.
What if you don’t like to garden?
If you are a non-hortulani (Latin for non-gardener), here’s some good news: “8 Health Benefits of Getting Back to Nature and Spending Time Outside”. They say that simply being out in nature – even sitting on the porch, watching and listening to birds can be beneficial (I have a free app for that from Cornell Lab of Ornithology ). Even better – it only takes 12 minutes a day of outdoor enjoyment to enhance your well-being.
Potential benefits abound for those who venture outdoors. So, no matter what draws you outside, Happy Gardening!
Has your world been touched by dementia?
My book, “Finishing Well: Finding the Joy in Dementia“, is a collection of stories and tips about doing life with my Mama. May it encourage and inspire you to find joy on your own, unique journey.