THOUSAND OAKS : Seniors Blossom With ‘Garden Therapy’

Raising 10 children, Pat Geyer was always too busy to tend a garden. But at Thousand Oaks’ Fitzgerald Center on Tuesday, she discovered she had a bit of a green thumb.

Along with two dozen others at the senior citizens day-care center, Geyer surrounded herself with fragrant, colorful flowers and arranged a vibrant bouquet during an hourlong program of “garden therapy.”

“I cultivated my children,” she said, directing an aide to tuck purple flowers next to the baby’s breath and ferns in her arrangement. “But I like this. It’s a lot of fun.”

Armed with brimming vases and overflowing baskets, Catherine Ott and several other members of the Conejo Valley Garden Club provide garden therapy at the Fitzgerald Center four times a year. The club helped the senior citizens plant shamrocks on St. Patrick’s Day, decorate baskets with fir and holly for the Christmas season and grow spider plants in the fall.

“Some of the people here are very isolated, and when they are gardening or doing something with their hands, they really put themselves into it,” Ott said. “It gives them a joy to be with others. And we like to share with them our love of nature and gardening.”

For many of the elderly, the flowers brought back warm memories of their own gardens. “I always did love flowers,” Marie Romano said. “But I don’t have the chance to garden much anymore.”

Fingering an African lily, with its oval bud and thick, green stalk, Romano mused, “There are some odd flowers here, all right.” After completing her arrangement, she spent several minutes turning her basket from side to side, trying to decide which angle offered the best view.

Garden therapy is always a popular program at Fitzgerald Center, program coordinator Sherri Trout said. “It gets the seniors more festive and helps them think about a lot of memories.”

Anne Kuska agreed, reminiscing about her garden in Illinois as she arranged her blooming bouquet with the help of Fitzgerald Center and Garden Club volunteers.

“You’d be surprised at how many hands helped me out here,” she said in response to compliments on her colorful arrangement. “It seems everybody likes flowers.”