Summer flowers in bloom at Healing Gardens Sept. 9
Healing Gardens, a two-acre expanse of woodland and perennial gardens in St. Charles, will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 9.
The gardens on on Stone Hill Farm off Dean Street are open to the public on set dates for the purpose of enjoying the natural wooded setting and perennial gardens.
Admission is $5 per person and $10 per family, call for discounted group rates. In solidarity and to honor the journey, cancer survivors are always free. Donations of time or money for upkeep are welcome. Healing Gardens is cultivated and hosted by Deborah Marqui owner of Stone Hill Farm with her husband, Buzz.
Marqui, who is cancer-free from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma since 1996 and in remission from breast cancer since 2002, finds great restoration of spirit in her gardens and property and wants to share that with the public for their own rejuvenation.
"There is still time to pick a summer bouquet of flowers at Healing Gardens. Numerous colors of mums are beginning to open along with many varied summer blooms. Flowers feed the soul," Marqui said. For a small donation visitors can pick their own bouquet of flowers to take home, jars and scissors provided.
The September opening will offer Tai Chi in the Garden, weather permitting, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Instructor Jarett Sanchez of Fox Valley Tai Chi will lead participants through a refreshing warm-up, a peaceful Standing Meditation Qi Gong session, and then an introduction to basic movements from the Yang Style of Tai Chi. No prior experience is necessary. To register, go to www.foxvalleytaichi.blogspot.com or email Jarett at foxvalleytaichi@gmail.com.
The September 9 opening will also offer an optional outdoor Yoga In The Garden class from 1 to 2 p.m. taught by Nancy May. Go to www.yogafromtheheart.org or call (815) 319-3500 to register.
Visiting individuals or small groups are welcome to do as they please. No activity is required or requested. People are welcome to read, nap, draw, meditate, journal, swing or simply do nothing. Stone Hill Farm is the home of Buzz and Deb Marqui where they have lived since 1972, raising four children.