After twenty three years of working as a Microbiologist at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, Jan Doherty began her own company providing horticultural therapy to the residents of nursing homes, senior centers,  Alzheimer facilities and retirement homes.

She has been an active volunteer for The Cincinnati Flower Show where she has won gold medals for her efforts, as well as volunteering at The Cincinnati Nature Center where she organizes the restoration of The Herb Wall. She and her husband live in Cincinnati, Ohio and have four adult children and six grandchildren.

Author, Jan Doherty  writes about the fragrances of this holiday season...

Soon the wonderful fragrance of pine will fill the house as we either bring in fresh Christmas trees for trimming or cut boughs to fill bowls and decorate fireplace mantles. The smells and textures of this wonderful season are potent and powerful tools for reminiscences.  Cinnamon, cloves and cookies in the oven mingling with the scent of pine send me into sensory overload. They also take my horticultural therapy participants on a trip down Memory Lane. 

Many fondly remember cutting down their own Christmas trees and shared some of their funny stories with all of us. What tales and laughter the smell of pine needles can evoke!

During one program when we were arranging pine branches in a holiday container, I had many varieties of conifers for them to touch and smell.  The differences between the appearance and feel of the varieties of winter greens generated many comments. “ The smell of pine is always stronger after a rain or on a foggy morning,” one person remarked.  A woman had a son living in Helena, Montana. She told us that she recognized and knew “all of those great pine smells” from visiting him there.  “Those were nice times,” she told us with a smile lighting her face.

Another very old and wise woman in my group remembered a big pine tree in her front yard on the farm. Her mother asked her to collect all of the fallen needles for her dad’s pillow.  “I was little and didn’t know then why he wanted to sleep on them,” the woman told us.  She said that later she found out that the doctor had made that recommendation since her Dad had suffered from asthma and the pine fragrance helped his breathing. That practice is still a popular, natural sleep aid for those suffering from sinus and asthma conditions.  I now grind up any dried Christmas tree branches that I have, as well as collect my fallen pine needles to make small sleep pillows.               --Jan Doherty