Flowers for Seniors returned Tuesday as residents at Pleasant Manor and Niagara Long Term Care Residences received poinsettias from the Niagara-on-the-Lake Horticultural Society.
Tina Dirks, who has lived at Radiant Care Pleasant Manor since January, placed a red poinsettia on the table in her room shortly after it arrived. She said the flowers make the season feel more like Christmas.
“I just want to thank them for being thoughtful, thinking of us and sending us beautiful flowers,” Dirks said.
Chelsea Bilton, a therapeutic recreation supervisor at Pleasant Manor for 15 years, said Dirks’ reaction reflected how residents typically respond.
“I think the expression is the biggest part,” she said. “You show them the poinsettia and they smile. … They’re very grateful.”
Susan Dodd, president of the horticultural society, said 160 poinsettias were delivered to the two long-term care homes. Five volunteers prepared the plants at June Floral and Garden in Virgil, where boxes of flowers lined the floor before delivery.
“Both owners (that June Floral and Garden has had in their time) have been very community-minded and they’ve always supported the work of the horticultural society,” Dodd said.
Dodd said the society has made the deliveries for “at least 20 years” and described the effort as a “Christmas gesture” using a plant closely associated with the season.
Society member Kim Mustill, who helped prepare the flowers, said the program reflects the group’s mission.
“This is one of the things the horticultural society wants to do,” she said. “They want to give a bit of Mother Nature back to the community.”
Founded in 1906, the Niagara-on-the-Lake Horticultural Society says it is one of the oldest organizations of its kind in Ontario. The group delivers plants to long-term care residences twice a year, in December and April.
This will be the last Christmastime Flowers for Seniors at Heritage Place in the current iteration of Pleasant Manor, as a newer, larger building will open this winter.
