When Maryann Roylo wakes up in the morning, she looks out at the backyard she’s built with her daughter, Heather Roylo. She sees vibrant orchids, anthuriums, and hibiscuses. The garden they maintain is partially shaded by a puakenikeni tree. She’s filled with gratitude and a profound sense of well-being.
Maryann loves to spend time in their backyard garden.
Maryann was born during World War II and grew up in Elkhart, Indiana. She moved to Hawaii when she was 21 and spent most of her career as an emergency room and obstetrical nurse at Wahiawa General Hospital.
Maryann has always gone above and beyond in her professional and personal life.
After receiving an Excellence in Practice award from Hawaii Nurses Association in 1990, Maryann was invited to the White House for a National Nurses Day luncheon hosted by first lady Barbara Bush. As the only Hawaii delegate, Maryann presented Mrs. Bush with anthuriums and a ginger lei for a touch of aloha spirit.
While Maryann was proud to represent Hawaii at the White House, she was happy to come home to her family and day-to-day work supporting patients as a bedside nurse. "Nursing was what was given to me, what I did best," she says.
Maryann in her nursing days.
Along with her daughter Heather, Maryann’s family includes her son Christian, both of whom grew up in Mililani. Today, Heather is a web senior technical business analyst at HMSA and is also an HMSA member.
Maryann credits her daughter with starting and maintaining their garden, which includes their plants and trees, shelter with orchid plants, arbor for anthuriums, and a vegetable garden with herbs, arugula, tomatoes, cucumbers, and other crops, depending on the season. The fragrant puakenikeni tree brings the yard together.
Maryann and Heather's vegetable garden.
Gardening for good health
April is National Garden Month, which celebrates the joys and benefits of gardening. Gardening can provide low-impact exercise for physical health, support a balanced diet, and contribute to one’s sense of purpose.
While Maryann led a busy life as a nurse and mom of two, she has lived with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) for over 50 years, which causes intermittent bouts of fatigue that can vary from mild to severe. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ME/CFS affects 3.3 million Americans and is diagnosed more often in women.
Maryann is an HMSA member whose primary care provider (PCP) plays a big role in her health.
"I’m grateful to have the guidance and support of my PCP. While there is no cure for ME/CFS, my doctor understands the complexities of my condition and supports my overall health," she shares.
One of Maryann's custom quilts.
Maryann is a long-time gardener and quilter who has made more than 60 beautiful custom quilts. She is now retired from quilting, but the garden provides structure to her days. Her routine includes a schedule of when to water, prune, and fertilize the garden, which she does her best to follow when she has symptoms. She does a lot of research on plants online, and watches YouTube videos on plant care.
Heather helps handle more of the labor-intensive work, such as mowing the lawn and landscaping. On weekends, they enjoy going to nurseries to find new plants to take home.
Maryann’s vegetable garden is organic using their homemade compost from kitchen scraps and garden waste along with natural solutions such as neem oil to control pests. She lights up when she talks about her success with Japanese cucumbers, which need to be covered with mesh pockets to prevent pickleworms, a tropical insect that attacks cucurbit (gourd family) plants like cucumbers, pumpkins, and squash.
Maryann is proud of her organic vegetable garden.
On some days, the ME/CFS makes it hard to get out of bed, but the garden calls. "Even if it just means snipping a few things, that’s what gives me the motivation to get outside," Maryann says.
Start low, go slow
HMSA Supportive Care Medical Director Toby Smith, D.O., is board certified in internal medicine, geriatrics, and hospice and palliative medicine. He works with kupuna patients on the Big Island and offers advice for gardening for older adults and multigenerational families.
Dr. Toby Smith.
"Gardening is a great form of exercise that can help with strength, balance and flexibility," he says. "It can also help with one’s mental health. Not only can the exercise help with reducing stress levels, but it’s also gratifying to plant, grow, and harvest plants."
Other benefits include having natural food on hand, breaking up the busyness or monotony of the day, and strengthening social connections. It can be a fun activity for multigenerational households.
"Being able to go outside and garden together allows for a special time that grandparents, parents, and children can contribute, solve problems, and engage with one another in a unique way. There are so many different tasks that almost anyone can find a job that they enjoy," he says.
His advice for those 65 and older is to “start low and go slow” when trying a new hobby like gardening. "Starting too much at once can become overwhelming very quickly and be more of a source of stress than a stress relief," he says.
Dr. Smith says older adults and those with health conditions need to take added precautions when engaging in outdoor activities such as gardening so it can be a safe and sustainable hobby.
"Depending on each person’s activity level, it’s a good idea to set a timer for 30 minutes to an hour to drink water, take a break, or call it a day. This will limit sun exposure and help to prevent dehydration, fatigue, or injury," he says.
Like mother, like daughter
Heather is a Mililani High School and University of Hawaii graduate who has always been close to her mom.
Heather and Maryann Roylo.
In 2011, Maryann and Heather moved from Hawaii to Pittsburgh, Pa. to live closer to Christian and his family. But as Maryann got older and the winters became more taxing, they agreed it was time to come back home.
They returned to Hawaii and bought a house on Oahu with a yard that was mostly gravel and dirt. Heather's idea was to transform it into a garden they could maintain together. Since then, mother and daughter have covered nearly every "plantable" area of their yard, which they’ve transformed into their very own tropical oasis.
Maryann says she's incredibly happy to be back in Hawaii living with Heather, whom she says is "the most wonderful person I have ever known," and seeing their garden flourish.
The garden has given Maryann and Heather many special moments, lots of laughs, and some challenges when dealing with garden pests. Through it all, they know they've created something special, and they've had the added joy of doing so together.
Take a tour of Maryann and Heather’s garden:
Follow Maryann and see her garden in bloom on Instagram @myalohagarden.
Let’s grow!
In honor of Filipino American History Month, Heather shared her family's recipe for pinakbet, made with ingredients you can grow in a garden. Get the recipe.
Want more garden inspiration? Check out these stories:
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