Plant a Mary’s garden

May is the month of Mary. Why not plant a Mary’s Garden this month, as a sign of devotion and to create a place of beauty and reflection?

Whether we give it a whole acre of space, a single lushly planted pot on a balcony, we can pray in our Mary’s garden with our children and for our needs as parents, for times when we struggle with our own infertility, or to pray for others who long to have children of their own.

May Mary, our mother, make us all fruitful bearers of Christ and heirs of heaven!

Early Christian missionaries, in recognition of God’s glory revealed in nature, charmingly named many flowers to relate to Mary, Jesus, other saints and holy places.
For example, the medieval names for ‘Baby’s Breath’ was ‘Lady’s Veil’ and ‘Jonquil’ was ‘St Joseph’s Staff’. During the Protestant revolution, many of these flowers were given the more secular names we know today.

Here are a few ideas to get your Mary’s Garden blooming:

• Location
  Renovate a secluded corner of your garden, build an
  enclosed space in generous yard, create a feature in a busy location, or use a generous patio pot. Even an indoor floral arrangement of fresh, dried or artificial flowers can work well. Alternatively, create a roadside shrine or lay claim to a derelict flower bed in a public park or on school grounds.
• Feature artwork
  Position a statue of Our Lady as a focal point, or create something yourself using symbols of Mary’s titles such as hearts (Immaculate Heart), roses (Mystical Rose), or stars (Star of the Sea). Garden art can be created with clay or painted onto smooth stones or tiles which can then be glued to a wall or a stone paver. For pots and indoor arrangements, framed holy pictures, plastic figurines or other craft objects can be used.
• Plants and Flowers
  Plant flowers whose names reflect various devotions to our Lady

For a more extensive list, including the Marian names of Herbs visit: www.fisheaters.com/marygardens.html and Pinterest

About Francine Pirola
Francine is the founder of CathFamily and its first editor. She is the mother of five children and has been married to Byron for 28 years. She has been working in marriage enrichment and prepartion with Byron for over twenty years.