NC State Therapeutic Horticulture

It's National Garden Week! Created by National Garden Clubs Inc., this week celebrates all aspects of cultivating plants for beauty, food, community pride, and all the wonderful things gardens do to connect us to nature and each other. If you can, spend some time this week in a garden! https://gardenclub.org/national-garden-week

Are you on our newsletter mailing list? Just putting the finishing touches on the summer edition! Growing Well comes out four times a year and is full of best practice tips, events, featured plants, and ideas to enhance the TH work you're doing. It's free and we would LOVE to send it to you! The next edition drops on Monday, so be sure to sign up today: https://apps.ces.ncsu.edu/activecampaign/sign-up/E5E354/51/

Are you ready to learn how therapeutic horticulture can work in your current wellness, mental health, education, or therapeutic practice? Register NOW for our fully-online introductory course, beginning August 31: https://go.ncsu.edu/th1-aug26

It's International Tea Day! Whether you're fortifying yourself with a cup of strong black tea or relaxing with a fragrant herbal to wind down, tea is an excellent way to engage the senses and create a pause in the day for renewal. Read about using herbal teas in your TH practice here, and be sure to celebrate with your favorite tea today! https://therapeutic-hort.ces.ncsu.edu/news/herbal-teas-a-taste-of-wellness/

It was such a pleasure to speak with Simon Gonzalez about "The Healing Power of Plants," his new article featuring therapeutic horticulture! He was such a good interviewer that he even got me to talk about myself🤭... but mostly about TH. Please read his wonderful work featuring TH in NC Extension! https://www.ces.ncsu.edu/news/the-healing-power-of-plants/

Today is World Therapeutic Horticulture Day! We celebrate the healing power of the people-plant connection across the lifespan, for all abilities, as a way to help people meet the challenges of life through maintaining close ties to nature. Skilled facilitators all over the globe use their resources to promote wellness in their communities in so many different settings: therapeutic horticulture can happen anywhere! Let's celebrate this growing profession together!🌿

Guest teaching in the new PSY 441 Environmental Psychology course this semester was a dream come true! Here we are in the Fox Headhouse starting some cuttings for propagation with students. Read more about our adventure here: https://chass.ncsu.edu/news/2026/04/28/environmental-psychology-course-shapes-how-students-experience-the-world/

Talking of tea blending and tasting, it was so lovely to be invited back to Bertie County again, this time to be part of Riverfest at the beautiful Roanoke Cashie River Center. Even the weather was on our side: 55 degrees and drizzling was PERFECT for a cup or three of hot herbal tea, and Extension Hort Agent Edward went above and beyond to see that we had many options to combine! Thanks for the wonderful audience and even better conversations... can't wait to come back to this gorgeous corner of North Carolina!🌿

Herbal tea is an excellent "gateway" activity to introduce participants to the sensory benefits of therapeutic horticulture! Learn about which herbs make delicious teas, and ways you can incorporate herbal tea into your practice in this month's article: https://therapeutic-hort.ces.ncsu.edu/news/herbal-teas-a-taste-of-wellness/

What a delight it was to visit Catawba County Cooperative Extension yesterday as a guest lecturer for the 2026 Master Gardener volunteer class! We spent the afternoon learning about therapeutic horticulture, then trying out an activity germinating basil seeds in our hands. This group has a free plant swap table every week-- what a great idea! Thanks for your interest in TH and can't wait to see you again!