Cathy Douglass grows thousands of annual flowers—and happily gives every bloom away. Douglass leads a large group of volunteer gardeners who grow and give flowers to cheer people in need. For the past seven summers, this group from Glen Ellyn’s St. Petronille Church has distributed more than 500 bouquets to clients of the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry, the Esse Adult Day Care Center, and the DuPage County Convalescent Center.


Volunteer Charlie Coffey of Glen Ellyn shows off a bouquet from the
St. Petronille Church’s Summer Garden.

The giving garden fills four 20- x 20-foot plots in the community garden at Glen Ellyn’s Village Green Park. In May, volunteers plant tight rows of hundreds of seedlings that will become a riot of color by July. After a few summers of testing, Douglass has found the most productive plants for the cutting garden, including zinnia ‘State Fair,’ snapdragon ‘Rocket Mix,’ ageratum ‘Blue Horizon’ and sunflower ‘Moulin Rouge.’ The first bouquets are cut and delivered in early July, and happy recipients are gifted with flowers well into the fall.

“The purpose of the garden is to help people make connections, to show people in difficult situations they are loved and cared for,” Douglass said. “Unexpected joy is so uplifting.” She believes the volunteers and staff who give the bouquets away get almost as much out of the gift as the people who receive them. Douglass says people sometimes ask why the group doesn’t grow vegetables instead. She replies, “We always say food feeds the body, but flowers feed the soul."

For more information or to volunteer for next season, contact Douglass at 630-858-7117.

—Lori Moore