Residents of Alexian Village Health and Rehabilitation Center are getting their hands dirty in a joint gardening project with the Tennessee Aquarium.
The program is open to any Alexian resident who wants to participate, said supervisor Mary Anne Williams, a Master Gardener.
Williams recently approached Christine Bock, lead horticulturist at the aquarium, to inquire about seedlings left over from plants grown for the aquarium’s butterfly garden.
“I’ve had families comment on the gardening opportunities,” Williams said.
The aquarium has two greenhouses, a small one in the Ocean Journey building and a larger one in a separate facility on Amnicola Highway.
“We often have extra plants,” Bock said.
To donateIf you’d like to donate extra bulbs or seedlings to Alexian for residents to plant, call 886-0217. Most needed are iris, Shasta daisies, day lilies, hosta, ferns and pachysandra.
Plant donations are “a regular program,” said Cindy Todd, director of marketing at the aquarium, “but it’s nice to be able to share when we do have extra.”
The partnership has taken root, and now Alexian residents are creating a butterfly garden of their own on Signal Mountain and putting spare seedlings in planters.
“It means so much to them – the aromas and being able to plant again,” said Sarah Wasmond, director of the quality-of-life program at Alexian, a nonprofit organization. “Many of these people grew up on farms, so it’s great for them to be able to go back to the simplicity of life.”
Alexian resident Jennie Rankin said she loved to garden before moving into her apartment at Alexian in 1996.
“I’ve grown so many things, and just being able to see things growing that I’ve planted here is wonderful,” she said.
Todd said donating to community organizations is part of the aquarium’s mission.
“One of the things that defines the Tennessee Aquarium as an organization is that we lead and partner to make a meaningful difference in the economic and environmental well-being of our community,” Todd said.
Bock said that, later this year, she will be planting several trees – left over from the aquarium’s Arbor Day tree giveaway – at Ivy Academy in Soddy-Daisy.
Contact Anne Braly at abraly@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6285.