BOSTON -- Ask anyone with a green thumb, and they'll tell you that gardening feeds the soul.
For the visually impaired, horticulture therapy is even more -- it's a learning tool that helps people who have difficulty seeing grow.
Most 17-year-olds would hardly find gardening exciting, but for Mary Westgate, who is legally blind, it's a growing fascination.
"You learn how to pick fruits and vegetables and learn about plants and really dig your hands in the dirt," Mary said.
The new $2 million greenhouse at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Mass., is allowing the visually impaired to develop their other senses.
"Plants are nondiscriminatory, nonthreatening will not talk to the students, so inherently a comfort level becomes available and then learning is enhanced," horticulture coordinator Deborah Krause said.
Students obtain vocational skills, making and selling fragrant sachets and teas, from the bounty the greenhouse offers.
For the elderly, who may be losing their eyesight, horticulture therapy can be a mood-enhancer.
"It makes me happy. It's beautiful. It's stimulating. I love being around flowers and plants," patient Bernadine Sellers said.
Teachers say that for a population that's used to being cared for, the plants provide an opportunity to be the caretaker for a change.
"There's a wonderful opportunity to reverse the care and then develop a sense of self-esteem from that," Krause said.
Horticulture therapy is offered daily at the new Pappas Horticulture Center. More than 100 Perkins students participate, and there are outreach programs for visually impaired elderly people as well as infants and toddlers.
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