How does a public garden make a "house call" in reverse? In these strange days, it seems appropriate that the Virginia Robinson Gardens, the LA County facility located behind the Beverly Hills Hotel, has put together a floral tribute to our medical heroes. It takes the form of a nurse, our front liners -- complete with stethoscope but made completely out of succulents -- whose work has been invaluable to our immediate community. Appropriately, it was installed on June 1,2020, at the Healing Garden of Cedars-Sinai, where staff, patients in both towers, and visitors can look out to the plaza, or walk over to it, to smile at the floral interpretation of a thank-you to our dedicated health providers.
This floral Florence Nightingale was designed by one of the VRG's talented gardeners, Andrey Yun, & was suggested by Kerstin Royce, then conceived & produced by Friends members Jeanne Anderson & Maralee Beck. Suz Landay painted our lace on burlap signs. Stalwart VRG Curator April Walton, who worked (like many of the County staff) all through the pandemic, has added a new task: helping maintain our succulent sweetie with transfusions of essentials fluids (water!) to keep her lively as summer sizzles.
We invited our neighbor, the Beverly Hills Hotel, to join with us as we presented our thank-you. Providing a cookie from their fabled bakery made a sweet treat for the staffers to accompany our Nurse of Thanks. The tribute will remain on the Plaza for as long as the plants stay healthy so that people may visit, take photos, and know how much the workers at the hospital are appreciated.
One amusing footnote: when we ordered the stethoscope, we didn't know they come in many colors. We picked orange to go with the succulents. Amazon filled our order OVERNIGHT! They must have thought that we needed it immediately for work. We choose to think we got such superb service because it was going to the heroes who DO the vital tasks.
Post by Maralee Beck
Friends of Robinson Gardens Board Member
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- Paola Villar Werstler, Executive Director at Cedars Sinai
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- Chief Nursing Executive, Dr. David Marshall and Executive Director of Nurse Education, Dr. Margo Minissian
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- VRG Curator April Walton
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- Cedars Sinai nurses
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- Cedars Sinai doctor with “Succulent Nurse”
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- Cedars Sinai doctor with “Succulent Nurse”
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- Left to right: Andrey Yun, VRG Superintendent Timothy Lindsay
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- Left to right: VRG board members Maralee Beck, Jeanne Anderson
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- Cookies from the Beverly Hills Hotel
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- VRG gardener and designer Andrey Yun working
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- Left to right: VRG President Betty Goldstein, Outgoing VRG President Patti Reinstein
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- VRG board member Kerstin Royce
Letter of Thanks from Cedars-Sinai - Robinson Gardens
[…] Click here to read the article about the floral tribute. To see more photos on Instagram, please click here, and to view our Facebook page, click here. […]
Our Garden Tour Star Andrey Yun: Life Before, During, and After VRG - Robinson Gardens
[…] Andrey Yun worked for the Virginia Robinson Gardens from 2017-2020. He is an immensely talented florist, designer, and horticulturalist that we were so lucky to have at the Gardens. An excellent pruner and plantsman, Andrey thoughtfully detailed the garden by pruning, dividing, and transplanting specimen plants. He also created VRG’s “succulent nurse” in 2020 to honor our medical heroes. The piece Audrey designed was a living sculpture constructed of metal netting planted with succulents in the form of a nurse. It was displayed in the Healing Gardens of Cedars-Sinai for all staff to enjoy on their breaks, as well as delighting the patients and visitors. Read about his enthralling story: Floral Tribute to Cedars from the Virginia Robinson Gardens […]
Spotlight on Paola Werstler - Robinson Gardens
[…] Both ladies were so loving and kind, and then Jeanne Anderson came by weekly to “water” our nurse made of succulents and cacti. Our friendship grew, and Jeanne invited me to join her on several occasions to the Gardens. What […]