Story Posted: 2025-09-25
Memorial Garden at the Hospice at Glengarda
Monique at the Memorial Garden entrance.
The Memorial Garden at our Hospice provides a meaningful way for patients to leave a living legacy through flowers. Palliative Arts Specialist Monique Blom has been taking a census of patients who journey through the Hospice, asking them about their favourite flowers and shaping the garden’s design.
“When you think about what leaving a legacy means, know that a legacy is the connective tissue between the past, the present, and the future,” she explains.
Monique often works with patients to create a variety of legacy projects during their time at the Hospice, and the Memorial Garden serves as a continuation of this commitment to honouring the legacy of patients who have spent time at the Hospice while experiencing the end of life.
Phase 1 is now complete, featuring these personalized blooms as well as seating options and a welcoming entrance. Future phases will include maintaining a cut flower garden with annuals that can be brought indoors to brighten patients’ rooms, establishing a medicine garden, and installing a water feature for quiet reflection. St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation and the Hospice at Glengarda want to especially thank Dutch Growers for their donation of plants towards this summer’s garden.
Flowers and plants do more than enhance a space. They boost mood, increase creativity, reduce stress and improve air quality. The garden adds a peaceful outdoor area to the Hospice grounds, offering a space for reflection and calm.