Community Corner
Stamford Plants a Healing Garden
Stamford Hospital has collaborated with Bartlett Arboretum and Stamford High School to plant a medicinal herb garden at the Tully Health Center.
Last year, the open space tucked away behind 's Tully Health Center was an empty patch of grass. Today, thanks to the vision of Ganga Duleep, master gardener and preceptor for the UCONN/ Master Gardener program, it is a new medicinal herb and aroma garden.
The garden will be open to the public and available as a resource for anyone who wants to experience its healing potential.
"The idea is to give the community a see, smell, taste, touch experience for natural healing," Dr. Marc Brodsky, Director of Stamford Hospital’s Center for Integrative Medicine and Wellness told Patch.
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Duleep spotted the open space outside of Brodsky's window while checking up on Thai basil plants at the Tully Health Center last year. She saw the empty grass and knew that a medicinal garden could put the space to better use.
"I've traveled a distance to bring some of these plants here," Duleep said. "In the corner is Angelica, it's called that because it's the angel of plants. Next to that is Chinese Angelica, called dong quai, it's a sought-after plant for medicinal purposes, they say it cures everything."
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Chinese rhubarb, curry leaf, lemongrass, aloe, and cinnamon are among the other plants lining the garden. Some plants, like the hot chili peppers can be used for both cooking and for their medicinal qualities.
"It's the capsaicin in the peppers, when rubbed on the skin it can decrease pain. Recently the FDA approved it for shingles pain and we use capsaicin here for spot treatments," Brodsky said.
Master gardeners at Bartlett Arboretum will be researching medicinal plants and producing papers outlining their results to further enrich the garden's use.
Both Brodsky and Duleep have seen people gaining in their awareness of herbal remedies over the past several years. People today are more likely to come in knowing an herb that may be useful in their treatments. Stamford Hospital’s Center for Integrative Medicine and Wellness was founded in 2008 and continues to grow as a resource for Stamford Hospital and the community.
On Monday, students from came out to help plant the garden and learn from Duleep. The students had a chance to smell some of the aromatic plants in the garden — including lavender, chewing gum mint, and chocolate mint.
"We hope that this will become a signature feature of the Hospital," Brodsky said. "People can come out [to the garden] and see that this is the plant that's helping them to feel better."
