Green-Thumbed Residents Cultivate More Than Flowers
Sensory Garden volunteers: (left to right) Bimmy Currie, Karen Crocker, Sara Brown, Rebecca Summerlin, Derl Horn, Marilyn Horn, Jacqueline King. Not pictured are Christine Klinger and Kathy Malstrom.
The Sensory Garden
Tucked inside Butterfield Trail Village’s Health Care Center and Special Care Center courtyard is a garden that was never meant to be ordinary. The Sensory Garden is designed with a specific, heartfelt purpose: to bring the healing power of the outdoors to residents with limited mobility, low vision or cognitive disorders. By engaging every sense – basking in the warmth of the afternoon sun, smelling fragrant herbs, observing vibrant blooms, hearing visiting songbirds, touching cool, silky flower petals – the garden personifies life.
More than a decade ago, three BTV residents – Karen Crocker, Beth Vaughan-Wrobel and Ardith Wharry – looked around campus and found a courtyard with untapped potential. They saw possibilities for sunshine and shade, a safe place to stroll or be assisted where color, scent, and texture could thrive. They envisioned a garden that could extend its reach through the Health Care Center windows, easily visible to those unable to come outside. So, they got to work.
The group found ways to create shade structures. They added furniture, cleared and established planting beds, and installed colorful perennials and herbs specially chosen to be touched, smelled and experienced. The intentionality of their planning has paid off. “As staff and companions bring health care residents to the garden, our volunteers often hear how much they appreciate our work,” says Karen Crocker.
Over time, what began as three neighbors with a vision grew into an enduring weekly tradition. A dedicated group of volunteers now gathers each Tuesday morning – spring, summer and fall – to keep the Sensory Garden looking its best. They don’t do it alone. Butterfield Grounds Manager Adam Fuller and his team provide critical support by maintaining the watering system, hedges, drains, mowing the grass and spreading mulch – while the Butterfield Trail Village Foundation provides funding for plants, gardening tools and birdseed.
The team has added labels throughout the beds, helping visitors connect names to the plants. It’s a small touch with a meaningful impact, turning the beautiful space into a learning garden as well.
The Raised Bed Garden: Fresh Start, New Energy
Raised Beds Gardeners: (left to right) Linda Batson, Susan Bakke, Marilyn Horn, Judy Doyle, Grace Donoho, Elizabeth Houle, Patty Goyette, Marcia Morris, Bimmy Currie. Not pictured are Barbara Brannon, Craig Brown, Janee Crotts, Linda Hayes, Rick Kirkpatrick, Kathy Malstrom, Char Olsen, Debbie Santeford and Elizabeth Woods.
Ask Linda Batson what she hoped for when she took over leadership of the BTV Raised Bed Garden, and her answer is simple. “I wanted it to be more welcoming.” Linda stepped into the coordinator role after longtime garden leader Judy Doyle passed the torch following 13 years of service. Linda’s instincts leaned toward the idea of community – more gardeners, an eye for aesthetics, a warmer gathering space.
This spring, those instincts intersected with a transformative opportunity. Thanks to a generous gift from the BTV Foundation, the raised beds are brand new – freshly constructed, filled with quality soil and ready for many new chapters. The change required a carefully planned transition, so ahead of the renovation, gardeners dug up established bulbs and perennials to prevent anything precious from being lost. Butterfield’s grounds team set aside a sheltered spot under nearby pine trees to store plants over the winter season, and a small army of helpers got the work done. Once spring arrived, 18 gardeners received assigned spaces to cultivate, with four residents on a waiting list.
“This is a new page, new beds, a fresh start,” Linda recalls telling the gardeners at the season’s opening meeting. With the garden now in its growing-season glory, visitors have commented on the renewed energy – the freshly powder-coated iron furniture donated by generous neighbors, the cheerful planters Linda sourced resourcefully and frugally, the pergola paint brightened. The inviting space now has a greater sense of permanence.
For those who garden there, the raised beds offer more than just soil and sunlight – it’s a place to make friends. For those who can’t garden anymore, the setting offers a calm, accessible space to linger, observe and remember. Linda nearly teared up recently when a resident thanked her and the other gardeners for making the space accessible for neighbors and friends who can’t grow anymore. “I see residents from the Health Care Center who come every day to sit, walk around and look. If you were a gardener at one time, and you can no longer do that – that’s got to be fulfilling.”
Rosa Lee Layne: Gathering Goodness Every Day
Most spring and summer mornings, Rosa Lee Layne makes her way down to Butterfield’s large row garden – not just to tend her blooms, but to gather and share the garden’s bounty. She cuts fresh flowers daily from her garden plot, as well as from areas managed by other generous growers, and sells them to fellow residents to help support the garden’s ongoing expenses. It’s a steady, quiet ritual that has earned her the admiration and appreciation of her neighbors.
Whether you catch her mid-harvest or spot her little bouquets for sale in Butterfield’s commons, Rosa Lee’s work is a daily reminder that a garden’s gifts are meant to be shared.
