Maneuvering her motorized wheelchair onto the patio, Santos observes the burst of pink blooms on a butterfly gaura, the tiny flowers on a multitude of slender stems resembling a pastel fireworks explosion. Before Santos was confined to a wheelchair a year ago, she tended her garden despite falling in the yard many times. That ability to get lost among the plants, whether whiling away the hours pulling weeds or watching bees dance their slow-motion ballet among blossoms, helps people to put matters into perspective, Evans says. You have to have intermissions between the acts of your life. The ability to let go of concerns and to focus on the present, he adds, is what people who study Zen and meditation strive for.
Gardens slow the pace and bring life into focus.
Coffee break Aman enjoys lingering under the palm trees in her small courtyard garden. The soothing trickle of a fountain sets the tone for the relaxed setting, and statues of saints and cherubs watch over myriad plants, growing both in containers and in the ground. Aman's gardening endeavors began not as an escape but rather as a defense against the weeds and fire ants that dominated the landscape around the Northeast Side garden home. With visions of a California garden in her mind, Aman and her sons planted eight palm trees. Though most of the California dreams fizzled, some of the palm trees now tower at 25 feet and cast interesting shadow patterns when the afternoon sun beats down.