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Intro Mary Garden
Idaho Council of Catholic
Women Lecture and Exhibit
Press Announcement
The Idaho Register Friday, April 14, 1967
Mrs. Roberson To Talk On 'Mary Gardens'
Mrs. Bonnie Roberson of Hagerman, Idaho, will conduct a general
session of the ICCW during their convention in Boise, April 30.
Her talk will be on "Religious Floral Symbolism," and will feature
the "Mary Gardens."
Through Mrs. Roberson's untiring research and efforts, she has
acquired much literature and history on this medieval custom which
has been revived in the United States during the past 10 years.
The list of religious names of plants, suitable for a Mary Garden,
exceeds 2,000, including many of our common garden flowers
known by their colloquial names - Lady's Slipper, Our Lady's
Mantle, Mary' Gold, Pentecost Rose and a host of others.
An outdoor Mary Garden is often planted in the form of cross, as is
her renowned 20 by 60 ft. garden in Hagerman.
Although originally designed for outdoors, Mrs. Roberson has
adapted an indoor dish version for the aged and also a fragrance
garden for the blind. This idea has also served as a teaching aid
for children. Some 20 such miniature dish Mary Gardens will be on
exhibit at the convention, each composed around a figurene of the
Virgin.
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Because of Mrs. Roberson's interest in religious floral symbolism,
many Idaho Catholic women are now "honoring Mary with God's
artistry."
Reprinted with permission. Photo added.
Exhibit Hand-Out Sheet
DIOCESAN CONVENTION IDAHO COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC WOMEN Twin Falls,
Idaho May 3, 1964
Miniature Mary Garden Exhibit
.
Friends:
It is a privilege to show you how you can have indoor dish or
planter Mary Gardens in your homes.
The Flowers of Our Lady and Mary Gardens first came to my attention
through a tiny notice in our own Idaho Register. Later I wrote to
the National Catholic Rural Life Conference and learned that two
Catholic laymen from Philadelphia were spreading the Mary Garden
idea and movement as a labor or love, under the name of "Mary's
Gardens."
From Mary's Gardens I received reprints and articles explaining how
medieval Christians, most of whom lived in rural districts and who
often could not read, turned to flowers as symbols and reminders of
Mary, the "Rose of Sharon" and "Lily of the Valleys", and of her
life and mysteries. Gardens of these flowers grown at medieval
monasteries such as Melrose Abbey and Norwich Priory were known as
"Mary Gardens" - named for Mary, the "Garden Enclosed."
In their love for God, Christians saw in every plant likenesses of
Our Lord, Our Lady and, as time want on, the Saints. Many trees
and shrubs were seen as Our Lord's Cross and Crown of Thorns. White
flowers became symbols of Our Lady's purity and her joys, red
flowers of her sorrows, and golden flowers of her glories. Other
flowers such as "Candlemas Bells" (snowdrops) and "Assumption Lily"
(Hosta) were associated with Our Lady from the liturgical season of
their blooming. Others such as "Our Lady's Thimble" (Harebell)
were named for their form. Over 1,000 names and symbolisms have
been found associating flowers with Our Lady.
I learned also that the first public Mary Garden in the United
States was planted at St. Joseph's Church, Woods Hole, on Cape Cod,
Massachusetts in 1932, and that this was the inspiration for Mary's
Gardens of Philadelphia.
Mary Gardens are of special interest to students both of medieval
horticulture and of religion. About half the plants known to have
been grown or collected in medieval times were associated with the
Virgin in one place or another. Authorities, such as the Oxford
English Dictionary, which lists some 50 such associations, are in
agreement that the words "Lady" or "Mary" in the old names of
plants are almost always a foreshortening of "Our Lady's" or
"Virgin Mary's". The diverse symbolism of such plants reflects
with remarkable comprehensiveness the lives of Jesus and Mary as
found in the Scriptures and the teaching of the Church.
With this information and the lists of flowers from Mary's Gardens,
I established my own 20' x 60' Mary Garden in Hagerman, around an
outdoor figure of "Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom" by Ade Bethune. Almost
immediately I began receiving a steady stream of visitors to the
garden, a number of whom started Mary Gardens of their own. Many,
however, did not have the time or space for an outdoor garden, and
this gave birth to the idea of the indoor dish or planter Mary
Garden - using house plants around a small statuette of Our Lady.
In looking for suitable house plants, most of which come originally
from warmer, low-latitude climates, I discovered that many of them
had been named for Mary by missionaries and their converts in
Mexico and Central and South America. These Mary-named plants,
together with warm climate plants from southern Europe and some of
our own outdoor plants, provided ample material for a variety of
miniature Mary Gardens, such as those you see here in the exhibit.
.
The following is a list of recommended plants.
Common Name Religious Name:
African Violets (Mary-Named varieties)
Bogonia, Lady's Fringe Lady's Fringes
Cactus, Lady Finger . Lady's Finger
Moses-in-the-Bulrushes Christ-in-the-Cradle
Crown of Thorns Crown of Thorns
Fern, Asparagus Maiden's Hair
Fuchsia . Lady's Eardrops
Geranium Beautiful Lady
Geranium, Strawberry Lady's Hair
Iris, dwarf Mary's Sword of Sorrow
Ivy, Kennilworth Lady's Hair
Johnny-Jump-Up Lady's Delight
Lady's Mantle Lady's Mantle
Lavender Mary's Washing Plant
Lemon Balm . Sweet Mary
Marigold, dwarf Mary's Gold
Mint, Spear- Our Lady's Mint
Myrtle Virgin's Flower
Oleander Rose of Jericho
Parsley Our Lady's Little Vine
Rosary Vine Rosary Vine
Rose, miniature Mary's Rose or Thorn
Rosemary Mary's Bouquet
Sage Mary's Plant
Star of Bethlehem Mary's Star
Thistle, Milk Virgin Mary's Thistle
Thyme, Creeping Mary's Bedstraw
Also, Mary's Gardens of Philadelphia has kindly provided a
quantitity of its list of House Plants of Our Lady with growing
instructions, a copy of which is attached to each of these sheets.
To help spread the beauty and joy of Mary Gardening, I will welcome
the opportunity to share with anyone who writes or visits me the
experience gained with my own outdoor and indoor Mary Gardens.
Bonnie Roberson
Copyright Mary's Gardens 1964, 1997. Photo added 1997