The Power of the Flower – Horticultural Therapy
Okay you flower addicts, nature lovers and freeloaders, sit on the couch and listen up. It’s time for therapy! The experts have confirmed that gardening, my favorite addiction, is therapeutic. Hallelujah! “Horticultural Therapy” is a multidisciplinary program of study involving fields such as horticulture, psychology, landscape architecture, education, gerontology, sociology and urban planning.
Here’s a shallow example of HT at work in my superficial life: Many moons ago, I worked with the actor James Woods on a film shoot. Let’s just say he was “high maintenance.” I came home on Friday nights in tears, mumbling obscenities as I rehashed “another week at the office” to my kind, patient boyfriend. Saturday mornings, I couldn’t speak till I’d cleansed the demons. I would spend two hours sitting in my garden, alone, meticulously and fiercely pulling weeds, in a silent ethereal trance. Monday morning I’d be ready to face the egos again . . .