The Bupa Garden, a garden for people with dementia, has won a gold medal at this year’s Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show in London. For those of us not in the know, Bupa is “the major UK health insurance company,” according to my UK information source.
Here’s part of the Bupa Garden blurb:
“The Bupa Garden was inspired by Bupa’s global commitment to creating garden sanctuaries for care home residents…A key element of the garden is the use of features that make it particularly appropriate for care home residents who have dementia. The garden’s main focus is a large spherical sculpture of textured concrete, which symbolises the organisation’s global values. The garden also contains a soothing water feature, and the paths and planting schemes embrace the needs of people with dementia.”
Though the website states that many of the plants used were chosen for their medicinal or sensory qualities, I was slightly disappointed that the accompanying plant list gives only Latin names, with no explanation of which plants were chosen for which function.
If you’re in the UK, you can view the BBC’s coverage of this garden, also on the above link.
Once the show is over, the garden gets relocated to a care home somewhere in the UK.
Thanks, Nedra W., for the information!