Healing Garden blossoms for 10th anniversary

SANDPOINT — There was a sign of good luck hidden away in the first load of soil dropped off at what is now the Healing Garden at Bonner General Hospital. When the volunteer gardeners began to shovel from the pile, they found a horseshoe waiting inside.

A decade later, the fortuitous charm still hangs among the rows of flowers, plants, water features and public art that has come to define what began as nothing more than a network of cement walkways and skeletal metalwork.

“We're 10 years old — it seems impossible,” said Linda Plaster, one of the original dozen or so volunteers who helped get the community project going.    

Behind her, a young mother sits with her two small children near the waterfall. They giggle, she gazes into the water. Later that morning, others stroll through the space — alone and in pairs — gaining strength along the way.

The gardens don't know their secrets: They might have a loved one in the hospital next door, or they might be there to remember someone dear who has passed on. They sit quietly in the teahouse along the creek or find solace in the chapel under the trees. All around them, the blooms and branches go about their work of healing hearts.

“There's a connection people have with the garden,” said volunteer Mary Ann Jeffres. “They come from all over and they feel blessed. The garden is about healing and peace. Even when you work here, you have that peace and joy.”

This year, as if somehow aware of the auspicious anniversary, the place is “at its peak growing cycle,” Plaster said. When those first plants went into the ground 10 years ago, the volunteers could claim some responsibility for the outcome. According to original volunteer Sharon McCormick, the garden is now in charge.

“We still make plans, but it seems like the garden makes its own plans,” she said. “It re-seeds itself in places we don't expect.”

Within that life cycle, some plants and trees mature and die. Immediately north of the teahouse stands a grand, lofty birch whose time draws nigh. Its signature attribute is a curved limb that reaches out, up and over the structure, like a crooked elbow bent in greeting, leaves waving on the breeze. Rather than lose this old friend, the garden has called on artist Tom Brunner to turn it into an archway that will continue to greet visitors.

Brunner's talent can be seen all over the place - in the rockwork and signs, the metal sunflower table and chairs, the butterfly shaped bench and the giant hand sculpture near the entrance to the Children's Garden.

“When we have a project, Tom steers us with his artistic aspect,” said Plaster.

A more recent piece of art was donated by San Diego metal sculptor Trevor Scherr - whose mother is local artist and green thumb Connie Scherr - in the form of a delicate flower that now hangs over the chapel door.

“It's a small rose made out of 16-gauge steel,” the artist said, adding that he created the work in memory Sandpoint High School friend and skiing buddy Tucker Taylor. “Artwork has been a passion in my life forever and I felt grateful and honored to be part of the community by having my work here. If I still lived in Sandpoint, this place would be loaded with art.”

For those who load the phrase “public art” with negative connotations, a visit to the Healing Garden might be in order. Apart from the living art, every corner of the grounds has been touched by inspired hands. The gardens themselves were designed by volunteer Barb Pressler, while the walkways, chapel and teahouse were designed and built by landscape architect John Siegmund.

Artistry, in these gardens, comes from outside the artists' circle, as well. When Sandpoint lost a favorite blossom with the passing of Hazel Hall three years ago, a host of local women announced they wanted to do something “magical and bright in memory of Hazel,” Plaster said.

“They thought it would be perfect to have a Children's Garden,” she continued. “And they raised $20,000 to do it.”

“We have a lot we still want to do in that garden,” Jeffres added. “We want more plants for brightness, fun and happiness.”

Maintaining the gardens requires constant fundraising, with annual events such as the Christmas Home Tour and Chicken Coop Crawl joining forces with the Spring for the Garden and Fall for the Garden plant sales to drum up needed cash. With things in their full and flowery glory this season, the volunteers plan to include more plants from the grounds in future sales.

“A lot of people would like to have something from the Healing Garden in their own gardens,” said new volunteer Cheryl Stewart, who recently held a garage sale that raised $1,500 for the cause.

Every cent comes in handy, according to these volunteers, because new projects or surprise repairs can be costly. A plan to extend the walkway along Sand Creek to create a new sitting area and wrap around the stately Brown House on the hospital grounds was temporarily stalled when the garden's centerpiece water feature needed $12,000 in work after it broke down.

From the beginning, though, the Healing Garden has found favor with area donors. The first seed money came through when volunteers wrapped up a planning meeting, stepped outside and ran into local businessmen Terry Merwin and John Porter walking down the street. No sooner had the two men heard the spiel — little more than a dream at that stage — than they had their checkbooks out. The encounter sticks out in Plaster's mind, along with the corporate donors who ponied up $10,000 and $25,000 to get the project off the ground — or in the ground, as it were — and the smaller amounts and in-kind donations that kept it going.

“I got the scrapbook out the other day to see who all the donors have been,” she said. “If we had an 8-foot by 8-foot wall, we couldn't get all the names on there.”

But it takes more than green to make a garden grow — somebody has to roll up their sleeves and dig in the dirt. That's where the garden volunteers come in. As the beds have filled with new plants, the task of caring for them has become more time-consuming. A few local master gardeners have brought their skills to bear, particularly Valle Novak, who has earned the nickname Rose Girl for her prowess with flowers.

“But Valle is recuperating from foot surgery right now,” said Jeffres. “We miss her — she's our rose expert.”

Going into the next 10 years, the Healing Garden plans to launch a web site with flower-themed donation levels such as “annual” and “perennial” to denote benchmark giving amounts. As much as money, the project needs additional volunteers, according to Plaster.

“People who love the garden bring a certain zest and energy with them,” she said.     “The garden is blessed,” she added, coming full circle to the horseshoe story. “When someone comes here, they always get the healing they need.”

To learn more about volunteering at the Healing Garden at Bonner General Hospital or donating to the project, contact garden liaison Needie Kennedy at (208) 263-1441.