Mary Gardens are composed entirely of plants dedicated to Mary, by name, legend or history. Creating and tending a Mary Garden combines a gardener’s reverence for the Blessed Mother with the love of plants and flowers. The name “Mary Garden” comes from medieval religious art depicting the Virgin and Child in an enclosed garden amidst symbolic flowers. Gardener’s have always been aware of the spiritual element in planting and caring for plants in a garden. A garden is a transcendent place, one that reveals many spiritual lessons over time that apply to all other aspects of our lives. Tending a Mary Garden provides the gardener with many opportunities for the sacramental encounter of experiencing Mary’s presence. And since at least the Medieval times, there has been a celebrated relationship between flowers and gardens dedicated to Mary, Mother of God. Most of what we know of Medieval gardens is of the herb and vegetable gardens meticulously cultivated by monastic groups. St. Benedict is known to have cultivated a rose garden, or “rosary,” way back in the 4th century. The first garden known to be dedicated to the Blessed Mother is the one planted by St. Fiacre, the Irish patron saint of gardening. St. Fiacre cultivated his Mary Garden at the hospice he built for the poor and infirm in France during the 7th century. In the early days of Christianity most of the faithful were illiterate peasants who worked closely with the earth through the seasons. They were deeply in tune with the earth, understood the language of nature and learned directly from her. They developed wisdom and knowledge and grew spiritually through the imagery inspired by the earth, most especially through flowers and plants. These images inspired by nature found their way into the grandest of cathedrals and religious art. The early Church teachers, such as St. Francis of Assisi, used flowers as a kind of text book to help explain the mysteries, stories and teachings of Christ, the Blessed Mother and all the saints. As Christianity spread and missionaries traveled into new lands, it was perceived as unwise to try to entirely eliminate all of the customs and rites of the pagan religions. Some of these ancient seasonal rites, celebrated for thousands of years by earth-based agricultural peoples, were enacted, at least in some part, to ensure the cohesiveness of the community. These seasonal celebrations and the plants associated with them were easily integrated into the church’s evolving liturgy and rites and it made perfect sense to relate the emerging Christian story to these ancient seasonal celebrations. Thus the holly and the Yule log, long associated with Druid winter rites, became important themes in Christian Nativity festivals among northern Europeans. The pre-Christian peoples had dearly loved gods and goddesses to whom they made offerings, presented petitions and courted favor. Jupiter, Venus, Diana, Isis, Hera, Cybele and Demeter, Pan, Athena, Daphne, Adonis, and many others were worshiped publicly in magnificent temples placed in the midst of beautifully manicured expanses such as the ones that are nearly perfectly preserved in Paestum. These gods and goddesses also had small altars dedicated to them inside of every home such as can clearly be seen in the excavations of Pompeii. Slowly, over the ensuing centuries, Christianity, and the figures it revered, became dominant. Venus, Isis and Diana bowed before the presence of Mary and Mary absorbed into her persona all that had previously been attributed to them, including the flowers associated with them throughout the preceding millennia. This evolutionary process happened many times with flowers and plants. Many plants that had previously been devoted to the goddesses worshiped by earth-honoring peoples carried names reflecting this. For instance, the well known Maidenhair fern was known in Iceland as Freyje’s Hair. It’s botanical name, Adiantum capillus-veneris, tells us that it was later considered sacred to Venus. We know it now as a plant of Our Lady. Our Lady opened up her arms, spread wide her cloak and absorbed them all. Plants sacred to Venus, or her Scandinavian counterpart, Freyje, or to some other great female divinity, slowly became associated with Mary, mother of Jesus. Plants long associated with Juno, Diana, Hulda and Bertha became Our Lady’s plants. The anemone, poppy and violet, dedicated to Venus, and the willow once sacred to Ceres, are all plants of Mary now. Calendula is the first flower known to actually be named in honor of Mary. It is said that St. Hildegard of Bingen dedicated calendula to Mary and gave it the name Mary's Gold after having a vision. A recipe written in 1373 calls for "seint mary gouldes", to create a potion to ward off the plague. "Our Lady's Slipper" is mentioned in the herbal of Vitus Auslasser published in Germany in 1479. During the Reformation plant names evolved again to reflect the new Protestant movement away from “worship” of Our Lady. Herbs and flowers with names such as Lady, Lady’s and Ladies are considered by most authorities to be older English plant names that once referred to Mary and became more generic during this period so as to describe any woman. There are hundreds of plants that can be used to create your own Mary Garden and most are easy to grow or easy to find at any garden centre. They include the Marigolds, or Mary's Gold, the Mayflower, or Mary's Flower, and Thrift, known as Our Lady's Pin Cushion. Canterbury Bells are called Our Lady's Night Cap because they look like an old-fashioned nightcap, and Fuchsia is called Our Lady's Eardrops because the flowers resemble pendant earrings. Several plants whose leaves are white-spotted are said in popular legends to have derived their spots from drops of the Virgin's milk which fell on them. Among these are Our Lady's thistle, virgin's thistle, lady's milk or holy thistle all names for the same plant, commonly called milk thistle (Silybum marianum). Two flowers, above all others, are emblematic of the Blessed Virgin. They are the rose and the lily. At the Feast of the Visitation (July 2),commemorating the visit of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, the Madonna Lily (Lilium candidum) is a symbol of Mary's virginity, and almost all art depicting this visit has a vase of these lilies, usually with three blossoms, included. The pure white sepals represent Mary’s body and the golden anthers her soul, sparkling with divine light. Roses, sacred to Venus, Diana and Aphrodite since the most ancient times, became known as the Emblem of Mary in the dawning Christian era. Mary is also known as the Mystical Rose. According to a well-known legend, St. Thomas, not believing the reports about the resurrection of the Virgin, had her tomb opened. Inside, instead of her body, he found the tomb filled with lilies and roses. When St. Dominic instituted the devotion of the Rosary, he recognized this symbolism and referred to each of the Hail Mary prayers as tiny roses. The month of May, traditionally dedicated to Mary, was originally sacred to Flora, Roman goddess of flowers and of spring. Common garden annuals considered flowers of Our Lady for planting in your Mary Garden: Cornflower Centaurea cyanus Mary's Crown Forget-me-not Myosotis alpestris Eyes of Mary Impatiens Impatiens wallerana Mother Love Larkspur Delphinium ajacis Mary's Tears Marigold Calendula officinalis Mary's Gold Morning Glory Ipomea purpurea Our Lady's Mantle Petunia Petunia hybrida Our Lady's Praises Poppy Papaver rhoeas Christ's Blood Snapdragon Antirrhinum hybrida Infant Jesus' Shoes Sweet Alyssum Alyssum maritimum Flower of the Cross Sweet Scabious Scabiosa atropurpurea Mary's Pincushion Zinnia Zinnea hybrids The Virgin Bulbs include: Hyacinth – symbolize the desire for peace and prudence and are dedicated to Mary Madonna Lily – symbolize Mary’s purity, motherhood and peace. Yellow Flag Iris – the fleur-de-lis – symbol of the suffering of Mary during the Passion Tulips – Mary’s Prayer Daffodils – Mary’s Star Some herbs to include in your Mary Garden: Rue – Herb of Grace Milk Thistle – Our Lady’s Milk Thistle Lady’s Mantle – Our Lady’s Mantle Violet – Mary’s Humility Lavender – Our Lady’s Drying Herb Rose – Our Lady’s Emblem Bee-Balm - Sweet Mary Lemon Balm – Sweet Mary Rosemary – Rose of Mary or Saint Mary’s Tree Mints – Our Lady’s Mints Dandelion – Mary’s Bitter Sorrow German Chamomile – Mary’s Plant Sage – Mary’s Shawl Thyme – The Virgin’s Humility Motherwort – Saint Mary’s Hand Mullein – Mary’s Candle Horehound – Mother of God’s Tea Marshmallow – Our Lady’s Cheeses Hawthorn – Mary’s Mayflower Hollyhock - St. Joseph’s Staff Red Clover – Our Lady’s Posies Meadowsweet – Our Lady of the Meadow Catnip – Mary’s Nettle Tansy – Our Lady’s Plant St. John’s wort – Mary’s Glory or Mary's Fire There is an amazing resource available to anyone wishing to create their own Mary Garden. It is the website Mary Gardens run by John Stokes, one of the founders of the Mary Garden in Pennsylvania in the early 1950’s. Stokes’ website is an extensive archive of articles written about Mary Gardens, including historical information on their medieval traditions. The site lists hundreds of plants called Mariana because their names, as recorded by botanists, folklorists and lexicographers, symbolize Mary’s life and mysteries. You can also peruse a whole library of articles on Mary Garden devotions, from theology to prayers and meditations. |