Create a Mary Garden

At the dawn of human civilization, nature was distinctly female. Small statues of heavy, pregnant women were the first human symbols of nature’s fertility found in archeological digs. But while plants and animals are female, the Earth itself was thought to be male.

The embodiment of nature became a series of nature goddesses. Many of the plants devoted to them included female names. Maidenhair fern was first known as Freyje’s hair in the Iceland. Its botanical name, “Adiantum capillus-veneris,” indicates it was later sacred to Venus. Today it is a plant of the Virgin Mary.

These female names are everywhere in the ancient texts, but in the Middle Ages goddess references became inconvenient to the spread of Christianity. Because monasteries were the storehouses of botanical knowledge at the time, they overlaid new meaning upon the goddess names.

They would honor mostly the Virgin Mary, but also Mary Magdalene, other women in the Bible and various saints and martyrs. The nomenclature did not change much, but the meaning did. In fact, a great deal of interesting folklore appeared to explain this new dedication to the Christian women.

Today there is a growing interest in this relationship of flowers and gardens to Mary. It is fueling an entirely new devotion, which combines a reverence for Mary with a love of plants and flowers.

At homes, churches and holy sites, people have created gardens composed entirely of plants dedicated to Mary by name, legend or history. There is a Mary garden at the U.S. Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, and one at the University of Dayton in Ohio. One of the earliest Mary gardens was planted at St. Joseph’s Church in Woods Hole, Maine. The gardens are springing up in parishes all over America.

Creating a Mary garden at home or parish is easy to do, but they may vary considerably in size. An apartment Mary garden might be a large pot of flowers and a porcelain statue of her standing among them.

A small townhouse might have a niche garden of Mary plants. More institutional applications may contain hundreds of flowers plus trees and shrubs. Fortunately, John Stokes has created the Mary Gardens website www.mgardens.org where you can find everything you need to get started with yours this spring.

At this site you can browse dozens of well-researched articles about the history of Mary plants and botanical folklore old and new. There are step-by-step guides to creating gardens for patio, home, parish, indoors and on windowsills. The details explain how to obtain and grow the plants successfully. You can also peruse a whole library of articles on Mary garden devotions from theology to prayers and meditations.

Begin by downloading the 10-page “Introductory Annuals Mary Garden Booklet,” which gives you background on all the elements. Its plant list includes easy-to-grow summer garden flowers, organized according to the Mysteries of the Rosary.

There’s even a plan and associated plant designation to take the guesswork out of layout. The one element that all Mary gardens share is a statue of her as the central focal point.

Nature created by God or a higher power is a concept that is growing ever more important to our spiritual lives. Gardeners have always known that working among plants feels quite spiritual, whether one is religious or not. This closeness to living things that are both beautiful and silent inspires us in so many ways and fills the heart and soul with a sense of peacefulness.

This spring, consider planting a little garden for Mary or simply for the universally divine female. Go there when you feel stressed or angry. Allow its purity to return you to the healing power of the creator, which is the essence of all life. You will soon discover that what they say is true — that from earth we were born, and to earth we shall return, and in between we garden.