Conner Parrish was 18 when his father died. “I began down a journey of grief,” he says. “I found myself ungrounded. … The old me disappeared, and the new me was born. Little did I know, gardening, the outdoors and beekeeping … [would] save me and allow me to find grounding again.”
While Parrish, a Henrico native, grew up in a rural area surrounded by nature and agriculture — his father had owned a land- and aquascaping business before Parrish was born — he drifted into other interests as he got older.
After his father’s death, however, Parrish reconnected with nature through beekeeping. It was meditative work that required him to stay focused if he didn’t want to be stung. “I learned if you’re nervous and emotional and don’t feel good, [the bees] feel that as well,” he says. He started planting flowers for the bees and soon ventured into selling blooms to local florists, which allowed him to gain more insight into the horticultural world.
Today, Parrish cultivates outdoor spaces and gardening memories through his business, Bloomistry. The regenerative gardening company uses natural approaches, such as eliminating pesticides, improving biodiversity and boosting soil health, to improve landscapes, as well as offering environmental education classes. “I found therapy in creating new spaces and a healthier world,” he says.
In his home garden, Parrish cultivates quiet tributes to those he loves. One of his grandmothers treasures peonies, so he planted several, and the other adored butterflies and dragonflies, which Parrish encourages by growing pollinator plants. “Any time I see butterflies and dragonflies,” he says, “I feel like that’s a sign to me, like, ‘Good job, you’re doing well.’”
By gardening his way through grief, Parrish inadvertently experienced a form of treatment called horticultural therapy.
Parrish grows pollinator plants such as Monarda, or bee balm, to honor his loved ones. (Photo by Ash Daniel)
Fertile Ground
“Horticultural therapy involves gardening or garden-related tasks that are either inherently therapeutic or the process of doing tasks with therapeutic benefits,” says Timothy Rich, an occupational therapist and director of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Gaze & Vision Rehabilitation Lab.
The wellness benefits and calming influence of gardens and gardening have been known since ancient times and were documented in the early 19th century, but it wasn’t until after World War II that horticultural therapy became popular among medical professionals in the United States. In particular, veterans hospitals prescribed it to help patients heal from war trauma. It’s still used to help patients build physical and mental skills, including endurance, coordination, balance, problem-solving and following directions.
The applications of horticultural therapy are even more widespread today, aiding people recovering from substance use disorder and those experiencing mental health concerns, and it’s used as occupational training for individuals incarcerated in Virginia’s corrections facilities. Rich once helped youths experiencing homelessness in Portland, Oregon, build gardens. “It was part of a work-study program that helped them gain work skills while at the same time helping them learn skills useful for them to be more independent,” he says.
Rich says the simple act of gardening has become even more critical in a world so separated from traditions of the past. “In a general sense, we are so disconnected,” he says. “The food we eat, we don’t think about. We’re among the first generations to not really worry about where food comes from. … Doing gardening-related tasks really gets us back in touch with more agency in what we consume. It’s not just edible gardening, [it’s] flowers and perennials, the beautification of space. [Gardening] creates opportunities for people to have different social interactions.”
Dr. Anjali Kalore (left) of Life in Bloom RVA sells bouquets at the Farmers Market at St. Stephen’s; she says gardening helps her cope with chronic pain. (Photo by Ash Daniel)
Cultivating Joy
Dr. Anjali Kalore, a physician and wellness coach and the owner of a local urban flower business called Life in Bloom RVA, turned to gardening to help her navigate the symptoms of severe autoimmune conditions.
Kalore says her life had become unrecognizable when she was formally diagnosed a few years ago. Due to severe pain and other symptoms, she could no longer do things she loved, such as cooking, and she had to rethink even the most basic tasks, like holding a coffee cup and driving or sitting in a car. But among flowers and nature, she found healing.
“Flowers are the only consistent thing in my life,” she says. “I can’t sit quietly. If I cry, I’m going to become super depressed and [won’t be able] to get back up. I have two girls, and I want to live for them and show them no matter what life throws at you, there’s always a way.”
A lifelong gardener, Kalore decided to turn her hobby into a business in 2023. She and her family have transformed their backyard into a year-round botanical paradise where she grows an array of pesticide-free flowers to sell, including fragrant roses, lilies, peonies, alliums, sunflowers and marigolds. “Something I love about gardening is every year is a lab; every plant is an experiment,” Kalore says.
Every Saturday, she and her family set up a booth at the Farmers Market at St. Stephen’s, where she sees the impact of flowers on other people. “When people go by my booth, they see variety there, the colors,” she says. “Kids are attracted to the flowers, and the dogs come sniff my flowers — they love the flowers, too.” Some shoppers pause to reflect on and compliment her bouquets before moving on, and sometimes she’ll give a flower to someone walking by just to spark joy.
Gardening and making bouquets put no pressure on her, Kalore says, so she can move at her own pace. She works within people’s budgets and arranges flowers to suit their preferences. “This is therapy, this isn’t business. Life in Bloom … has a deeper meaning. It’s my life, which I’m making bloom again.”
The therapy garden at ChildSavers’ headquarters is a safe setting for clinicians to teach children emotional skills. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Seeds of Serenity
Research, including a study published in the journal Scientific Reports in 2024, has shown that gardening can reduce anxiety, foster social connection, provide low-impact exercise and boost serotonin levels. But apart from digging and planting, simply enjoying a garden also has therapeutic effects.
“In general, gardens and nature help with stress and anxiety reduction … [and there are] cognitive benefits as well,” says Katy Reynolds, school-based program supervisor and trainer at ChildSavers, a nonprofit organization that provides trauma-informed mental health and child development services. “There are neurochemical changes when you engage with nature. [There’s] also skill building around it; you lean into sensory engagement and mindfulness.”
The garden at ChildSavers (Photo by Jay Paul)
Built in 2017, the therapy garden at ChildSavers’ Church Hill headquarters wraps around a historic radio tower. It incorporates many sensory aspects, including fragrance, varying heights and a swinging bench, and is filled with plants such as lavender, peppermint, rosemary, thyme, hydrangea and clematis.
Clinicians use the garden as a safe setting to aid children with regulation skills (managing their thoughts and feelings), anxiety reduction and impulse control. When the garden isn’t reserved for sessions, children who are uncomfortable inside the building have the option of going outside to rest. Reynolds has noticed that the garden positively influences most kids. “Children naturally become a little calmer, a little slower. They tend to be very curious about what’s happening around them,” she says.
The way they respond to the garden also helps clinicians find creative methods to reach them. “[A child] might see an ant and wonder what this ant is doing, and that gives us a lane to bring in other types of therapy, like narrative,” Reynolds says. “[We can ask,] ‘What is happening with this family of ants on the ground?”’
Clinicians sometimes take art projects outside so kids can enjoy the fresh air and sunlight, occasionally bringing a flowerpot and seeds for the children to plant. “Many of [the kids] live in areas of the city or other parts that don’t have as much nature, so they might not have the same chance to really lean into this type of experience in person,” Reynolds says. “A lot of them are very curious, very calm and very quiet, looking around at everything.”
Tending the large farm at Covenant Woods retirement community is an enjoyable way for residents to exercise and socialize. (Photo courtesy Covenant Woods)
Vegging Out
Covenant Woods retirement community in Mechanicsville is home to an innovative 20,000-square-foot farm that not only supplies fresh produce, including strawberries and tomatoes, for campus restaurants, but also allows residents to partake in gardening activities alongside its two farmers.
Resident Nancy Gallihugh began helping in the garden during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We weren’t able to go out or be together in groups, so I started volunteering in the farm-to-table garden,” she says. “Gardening is fulfilling in so many ways. My husband and I have always had a garden at our home in every place we have lived.”
Depending on the season, Gallihugh starts seeds, pulls weeds or harvests produce at the organic-focused farm. She has also expanded her gardening knowledge by planting asparagus berries and garlic cloves and learning nontoxic ways to thwart bugs or fertilize. “As we have aged, we have slowed down in the zeal of gardening, but it is still rewarding to dig in the dirt and watch plants thrive and seeds germinate,” she says. “We have beehives at [Covenant Woods], so growing good pollinators to nourish the hives is my activity now, aside from my weekly volunteering at the garden.”
Created in 2017, the on-site farm was the idea of Mike Scheff, director of dining services. “One thing we learned most about the farm,” he says, “even more importantly than the fresh product … is the amount of socialization residents get — the amount of time they spend up there, the exercise, they get fresh air, they’re meeting new people.”
The campus also has 30 garden beds residents can reserve and plant their own ways. “A lot of these people gave up big gardens and big farms — that’s a hard thing to let go of,” says Erin Melton, director of marketing and sales at Covenant Woods. Some retirees, including one from outside New York City, moved to the community specifically because they had discovered the farm program online. “The [campus farm] is definitely part of the appeal for some folks.”
Many residents who don’t want to participate in farming still contribute to the cause by donating cardboard, which the farm uses for weed control; saving food scraps and newspaper for the compost pile; designing flower arrangements with farm botanicals; and making soap with dried herbs grown on the farm. One resident donated funds to help build the farm’s beekeeping program three years ago. “It’s just fun to have additional resident interest groups that have been produced out of this cool program,” Melton says.
Gardens and gardening aren’t cure-alls, but they do promote wellness simply by encouraging people to slow down, get outside, move their bodies and use their senses. No matter the path of life’s journey, we can all benefit from stopping to smell the roses — and sowing a few seeds, pulling some weeds or adding a little compost, too.
