I always begin planning my gardens in late March, as the cold days swirl around us in CT, and I’m dreaming of fresh soil, bare toes, and long warm days. This year, we knew we wanted to focus on a Mary garden during the month of May…with many landscaping projects to complete, this was a first (and relatively simple) one to focus on. We also decide to do a month long consecration to Mary, using the wonderful book by Carrie Gress for the kids, and for myself, the 33 Days to Morning Glory book that came highly recommended. In this time of uncertainty & upheaval, creating these rituals, places of quiet, reflection & spiritual growth in our homes and yards feels even more important than normal.
With frosts in mid May, and a trip to the south planned, we ended up waiting until Memorial day weekend to finally get these in the ground, and we’re very happy with it. I find myself lingering in that part of the yard more often, and our eyes are drawn to it from the deck & upper yard spaces (since it sits down a bit protected and removed from the field, and closer to the edge of the property).
It’s such a rich tradition to link natural symbols & beautiful everyday things (flowers), with spiritual truths & enrichment, and I wanted my kids to experience this as well through our garden planting.
We may transplant a few other things from parts of the yard, and add one or two flowers to it each year.
When researching and deciding on what flowers to include, I was happily overwhelmed with resources and ideas from these 4 main sources:
*Rose Harrington has a beautiful website on this topic (and we got this poster from her for Emma’s room, with the rosary decades and corresponding flowers). It’s a great starting point for delving into this world. She’s done a ton of research on the topic, and I love what she shares–a whole rich world of marian spirituality connected to natural symbols.
*I also got a short list of flowers (with some new fun ones, like ferns as “mary’s hair”) from the Blessed is She blog.
*The most comprehensive list, with alot of background explanations, imagery and medieval traditions about the concept of a Mary garden, comes from this site: Fisheaters.
*Erica from Be a Heart Design also pulled together a beautiful image & short list for this season, and I referred to it for a few ideas (cosmos). It’s important to be aware of which plants will grow well in your current climate, so everyone’s gardens will and should look a little different.
I always loved the concept of having mostly blue and white flowers in the garden, so we stayed close to that, except for a few small pops of color (assylum, “Mary’s flower”) and cosmos (“St Michael’s flower”).
Here’s the list from Blessed is She:
- Bleeding Heart: Mary’s Heart
- Daffodil: Mary’s Star
- Ferns: Mary’s Hair
- Geraniums: Lady Beautiful
- Hostas: Assumption Lily
- Impatiens: Mother’s Love
- Marigold: Mary’s Gold
- Pansies: Our Lady’s Delight
- Tulips: Mary’s Prayer
Here’s the list from Rose Harrington’s site:
- Baby’s Breath – Our Lady’s Veil
- Black-eyed Susan – Golden Jerusalem
- Bleeding Heart – Mary’s Heart
- Columbine – Our Lady’s Shoes
- Dahlia – Church Flower
- Daisy – Mary-Love
- Dandelion – Mary’s Bitter Sorrows
- Forget-me-nots – Eyes of Mary
- Iris – Mary’s Sword of Sorrow
- Madonna Lily – Annunciation Lily
- Pansy – Our Lady’s Delight
- Peony – Pentecost Rose
- Poppy – Christ’s Blood Drops
- Sunflower – Mary’s Gold
- Violet – Our Lady’s Modesty.
Joel and I, looking at these lists, were commenting that it seems that everything that blooms in the spring can be some way connected to Mary, through these traditions & names, and I actually love that idea. After a long winter that tested us in so many ways, each blossom & beautiful new growth brings us back to a place of hope, of faith, of deeper love and strength in our vocations. Mary is very much involved, even on the days that feel dark or challenging.
We had folks asking about the statue as well…Joel spent a good bit of time looking around for something that was attractive and affordable (and larger than 2 ft), and we landed on this one.
I hope this roundup helps provide inspiration for you as you plan, plant, water & enjoy your Mary gardens, this year and in years to come.