City of Hope Oncologist Amrita Krishnan, left, and her patient, Donna McNutt, take part in the Healing Garden planting ceremony at the new Orange County oncology center in Irvine on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Bonnie Nolan of Newport Beach is all smiles as she takes part in the planting ceremony for Orange County’s new City of Hope cancer center in Irvine on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. Nolan was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in 2020 with six to-12-months to live. But after getting a new doctor, she said, she is now doing great. “I play tennis. I never stop.”(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Plants go into the City of Hope’s new Orange County oncology center Healing Garden on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Colorful and drought-tolerant plants will be featured at the City of Hope’s new Orange County oncology center’s Healing Garden. Patients, volunteers and workers took part in the planting ceremony in Irvine on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

City of Hope Nurse Nikki Gee plants flowers in the City of Hope’s new Orange County oncology center Healing Garden on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Messages adorn the Wishing Tree at Orange County’s new City of Hope cancer center in Irvine on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. The Tree has become a City of Hope tradition, borrowed from Japanese culture. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Lianne Blach plants flowers in the new City of Hope Orange County cancer center Healing Garden on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. Blach was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021. The drought tolerant plants were selected for their therapeutic and healing nature.(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Colorful and drought-tolerant plants will be featured at the City of Hope’s new Orange County oncology center’s Healing Garden. Patients, volunteers and workers took part in the planting ceremony in Irvine on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Colorful and drought-tolerant plants will be featured at the City of Hope’s new Orange County oncology center’s Healing Garden. Patients, volunteers and workers took part in the planting ceremony in Irvine on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Bonnie Nolan of Newport Beach takes part in the planting ceremony for Orange County’s new City of Hope cancer center in Irvine on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. Nolan was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in 2020 with six to-12-months to live. But after getting a new doctor, she said, she is now doing great. “I play tennis. I never stop.”(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

“Hope” becomes a photo op for cancer patients Bonnie Nolan, left, and Donna McNutt, during the City of Hope’s new Orange County oncology center’s Healing Garden ceremony in Irvine on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The new City of Hope Orange County oncology center in Irvine started planting its Healing Garden on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. Cancer patients, doctors and other guests help plant the colorful, drought-tolerant and soothing vegetation. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Bright, blooming flowers and native desert plants dot fresh mounds of soil after patients and staff of the new City of Hope Orange County oncology center got their hands dirty Wednesday, May 11, creating a healing garden.

Hundreds of plants were placed in the garden during a ceremony at the under-construction campus in Irvine, where an outpatient cancer center is expected to open later this year and a hospital is planned next.

The natural setting will be a place for City of Hope’s patients receiving treatment to take a walk or find a quiet moment in the shade, officials said. Among the greenery that will fill out the space is more than 30 different species that hold potential medicinal value, along with native California flowers and bushes.