Root in Nature

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05/28/2026

Part 2: Who else is busy selecting plants and planting in the garden? 🙋‍♀️

Plants like these with vibrant, contrasting leaf patterns and bright, pastel flowers can bring a real sense of wonder to the garden!

Katie McGillivray, Registered Horticultural Therapist and Learning & Community Lead with Root in Nature, shares two favourites for visual impact:

🎨 Coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides) — perfect for shaded spots with bold, colourful foliage
🌸 Portulaca (Portulaca grandiflora) — a sun-loving burst of bright, cheerful blooms

We talk sensory plants, plant safety and more in both our intro and advanced TH courses. Comment ‘Courses’ for a direct link to check them out!

Note: As always, in therapeutic horticulture programs and landscapes, it’s important to assess the level of risk when selecting and using plants to ensure they are appropriate for your participants and setting.

05/21/2026

Plants that engage the senses support both people and pollinators in powerful ways 🐝

Katie McGillivray, Registered Horticultural Therapist and Learning & Community Lead with Root in Nature, shares two of her favourite sensory plants that are also incredible for pollinators, specifically hummingbirds:

🌻 Cuphea ignea (cigar plant)
🍍 Salvia elegans (pineapple sage)

Sensory plant selection is a core topic we cover in our Advanced Therapeutic Horticulture Skills course - comment Advanced to learn more!

Note: As always, in therapeutic horticulture programs and landscapes, it’s important to assess the level of risk when selecting and using plants to ensure they are appropriate for your participants and setting.

05/20/2026

World Therapeutic Horticulture Day has been a beautiful reminder of how many ways this work is showing up around the world! 🌿

We support this growing field by providing accessible TH training for professionals who bring plants and nature into healthcare, long-term care, education, recreation, community programs, disability services, veteran support, and more.

If you’ve been considering one of our courses, this is a reminder that our WTHD25 coupon code expires tomorrow, May 21, at midnight EDT.

The code provides 25% off Root in Nature courses and GrowTH Network memberships as part of our WTHD efforts to expand access to therapeutic horticulture learning and practitioner support.

💬 Explore the course overview through the link in our bio, or comment ‘overview’ and we’ll send you a direct link.

05/05/2026

World Therapeutic Horticulture Day is coming up 18 May 🌱

A reminder worth repeating: therapeutic horticulture is more than just gardening. It can support mental health recovery, healing after bereavement, and rehabilitation after stroke, and it also builds creativity, purpose, teamwork, gentle movement, and empathy.

Want to help spread the message? Share this Reel to show all the ways & places TH can be practised.

Get the WTHD shareable resources on Trellis Scotland’s website. Many thanks to Fiona Thackeray and her team for making these available to all!

04/21/2026

This clip from our Therapeutic Horticulture Foundations & Facilitation course is a reminder that after site viability comes something just as important: participant assessment.

Assessment goes beyond “What can participants do?” It also considers:

💚 What excites participants and what feels personally meaningful
🧠 Cognitive, emotional, social, and physical needs
♿ Accessibility, sensory supports, and adaptive tools for comfort and safety
🌍 Cultural context, traditions, values, communication styles, and lived experience
🗓️ Schedules, preferred times, and transportation realities

When these pieces are understood early, programs become more inclusive, respectful, and genuinely supportive.

💬 Explore our website or comment Foundations and we’ll send a direct link!

04/08/2026

Happy day- we’re now offering multi-currency pricing. 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇦🇺🇪🇺🇸🇬🇬🇧

04/02/2026

In Kyiv, the National Botanical Garden is more than a collection of plants. In the context of an ongoing and brutal war, it has become a place where people can pause, breathe, and find a moment of normalcy.

This video shares how a living landscape with meadows in bloom, birdsong, and the texture and movement of leaves, can offer support for nervous systems under immense strain.

For those working in therapeutic horticulture and adjacent fields, the reflection is simple and important: supportive environments matter. Access to sensory-rich, welcoming outdoor spaces can be a meaningful intervention, especially when structured programming feels out of reach or too much.

This video is the first in a series that will be shared over the coming months, highlighting therapeutic horticulture work supported by Partnerships for Nature and Emilee Weaver.

Learn more about Partnerships for Nature here: https://www.partnerships-for-nature.org/

03/19/2026

Horticultural Therapy Week is the perfect time to reflect on the foundations of the field. 🌿

In this extended clip from our Therapeutic Horticulture Foundations & Facilitation course, three foundational frameworks are highlighted:

🌱 Biophilia (E.O. Wilson): humans are naturally drawn to living things, which represent a return to what the nervous system recognizes.
🧠 Attention Restoration (Kaplan & Kaplan): nature’s “soft fascination” helps the mind rest and refocus.
💛 Stress Reduction (Ulrich): even brief nature exposure can lower stress in the body, supporting calm, recovery, and emotional balance.

These theories give language to what therapeutic horticulture makes possible: regulation, restoration, and deeper connection with nature.

💬 Comment “Foundations” and a longer preview will be sent!

02/03/2026

This mindfulness exercise by Katie uses companion planting as a metaphor: two plants growing side by side, each offering something the other needs. Shade. Protection. Nutrients.

In therapeutic horticulture, these moments can open space for reflection on support, interdependence, and what helps us grow, both in the garden and in life.

How might you use a reflection or metaphor like this with your participants?🌿

12/17/2025

This year marked a pivotal chapter for Root in Nature. ✨

With the addition of our first full-time Director of Learning and Community Engagement, Emilee Weaver, we’ve been growing new learning pathways, strengthening the GrowTH Network, and supporting practitioners worldwide as they bring nature into care in thoughtful, evidence-informed ways.

Instead of a year-end letter, we created something special to mark the moment:

📊 Our first Impact Report is here!

Inside you’ll find:
🌱 What we’ve been growing in 2025
🌍 The evolution of the GrowTH Network
📚 Early outcomes from our courses
🤝 Partnerships shaping the field
🔭 A glimpse of what’s ahead in 2026

To receive a copy, comment the word “Impact” and we’ll send it your way.

As we head into a new year, thank you for being part of this community. Whether you’ve taken a course, joined the GrowTH Network, or simply followed our work, you are what motivates us to keep going and growing. 💚

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