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                                                    Intro Mary Garden



   


Story and photos by CATHY LOCHER reporter,  Catholic Times,
Springfield in Illinois diocesan newspaper, September 5, 1999


     

      Some of the flowers surrounding the statue of Mary in master
      gardener Dorothy Brooks' backyard in Jacksonville are named for
      Mary. They include virgin flower (periwinkle - Vinca minor),
      lady's earrings (balsam - impatients balsaminum) and Assumption
      lily (Hosta plantaginea)


     For master gardeners, occasional dabblers in the soil, and anyone who
simply enjoys nature's beauty, gardens are natural spots for spiritual
contemplation.

     With the increasing popularity of garden statuary - statues of angels,
saints or animals, reflecting balls and stone or wood benches - it is little
wonder that the number of devotional gardens is growing.

     A popular trend today is the creation of a Mary garden.

     It is not uncommon to see statues of the Blessed Virgin in residential
yards, church lawns, school or other religious institution grounds. But a
Mary garden is not defined by the statue; it includes flowers named in honor
of the Blessed Virgin.

     Canterbury bells (lady's nightcap), pansies (lady's delight), columbine
(lady's shoes), larkspur (Mary's tears) and marigold (Mary's gold) are but
some of the hundreds of flowers with religious names that Mary garden
designers can choose from.


      

  GREENVILLE - Father Victor Kaltenbach, pastor, at St. Lawrence Parish,
  admires the work Carol Gelsen has done in the parish Prayer Garden.
  "It is just outside the entrance of our parish hall, so everyone who
  comes to our parish activities gets to see how beautiful it is."


     Mary gardens date back to the Middle Ages, when flowers were named in
honor of Mary as symbols of the life, virtues and mysteries of the Blessed
Virgin and her Son. Early gardening books often omitted these religious
names, but thanks to the efforts of botanists and folklorists, the
traditional names have survived.









     Several statues of angels share the Prayer
     Garden with a statue of the Blessed Mother
     at St. Lawrence Parish, Greenville.









     The Mary Garden movement began in the United States in 1932, when
Frances Crane Lillie researched plants and herbs with religious names. She
then planted the first public Mary Garden in the United States at St.
Joseph's Church in Woods Hole, Mass.

     The National Council of Catholic Women is raising money for a Mary
Garden for pilgrims on the grounds of the Basilica of the National Shrine of
the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Groundbreaking ceremonies took
place June 12, and the garden is expected to be completed by June 2000.

     Mary's Gardens, a not-for-profit group in Philadelphia, was founded in
1951. It opened its Internet site in 1995 at www.mgardens.org. Hundreds of
botanical names for plants, along with their common names and their Mary
names are listed on this internet site, which also includes numerous
articles, photographs, garden plans, prayers and much more.

     "The Internet brought the flowers of Our Lady and Mary Gardens to the
attention of a vastly greater number of people than had been reached in the
previous 45 years through press notices, articles, lectures, and exhibits,"
writes John Stokes, founding partner of Mary's Gardens, via e-mail.

     In the spring planting season, the site averaged 3,000 hits a day, and
now in the off season, it is still averaging 1,500 hits a day.

     For those not on the Internet, write Mary's Gardens, Box 30290,
Philadelphia, PA 19103.


                      


     In late August, the Prayer Garden at St. Lawrence Church takes
     on a different look as the perennials blooming season changes.


     Ann Ball, in her book Catholic Traditions in the Garden  (Our Sunday
Visitor Publishing, 1998) writes about Mary gardens. Ball tells readers how
to start a Mary garden, suggests other garden accessories and provides
directions for lots of hands-on projects.

     Master gardener Dorothy Brooks of Our Saviour Parish in Jacksonville,
likes the fact that her grown daughters have followed her example and
include a statue of Mary in their gardens.

     Father Dave Schmidt, pastor at Holy Family in Litchfield and St. Agnes
in Hillsboro, says, "All those little garden tasks, seeding, fertilizing,
turning over the soil, pruning, all those pieces have spiritual
implications. I find myself reflecting while working in the garden."

     For those interested in starting a Mary's garden, fall is a good time
to plant or divide perennials, says Bill Kelley at Cottage Garden in Piasa.
Plant sources are available at some local nurseries or through the Mary's
garden web site.


                                       


ROBINSON - Thanks to the combined efforts of several parishioners who
volunteered their time and talents this summer, St. Elizabeth Church
now has a Mary devotional garden filled with rose bushes.



Reprinted with permission of Catholic Times and the author.