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Intro Mary Garden
How does your Mary Garden grow?
It's a Quiet Little Spot
Nikki Abraham Catholic New Times, Toronto
September 16, 1999
Nestled in a small enclave of homes in lower Parkdale in
Toronto is an unassuming semi-detached house with a small square
garden area in the back. Many of the plants in the garden are ones
that are commonly seen, and there are few of the exotic or
high-priced items that would ordinarily provide subject matter for
an article. But this is a garden with a difference. Every single
plant growing there is named for Mary, Mother of Jesus.
Lauretta. Santarossa, owner of the house, explains how the
garden came about. "The layout was designed by Ashley Thomas, a
Ryerson student. It was his idea that we do a Mary Garden. He had
seen a short article in the gardening column of the Toronto Star,
and knew that I was interested in things of this nature, so he
clipped the article for me. I thought it was a great idea."
In a patio garden there is no grass. Designed on the diagonal
to make the square shape more interesting, the space is divided
almost evenly between cobble stoned areas with benches for seating,
and areas containing plants. Santarossa likes the fact that the
whole neighbourhood contributed to the garden by donating bricks to
it. "We went around to all the neighbours asking them if they had
any old bricks. What we discovered was that behind every house in
Parkdale there is a stack of bricks. Every house has them. So we
got them from all our neighbours. I've named one area of the
garden the 'Zen walk.' It's the one that has cobble stones from
the old streetcar tracks."
"I wanted a courtyard garden," she says. "Even that is
associated with Mary, the Garden Enclosed. I often thought of the
Litany of Loreto, where Mary is described as Lily of the Valley,
Rose of Sharon, Star of the Morning - all sorts of names like that.
I slowly started to gather the plants that you would have in a Mary
Garden. Then I went up to visit a friend at Madonna' House (in
Combermere, Ontario) and she looked up the old files on Mary
Gardens. It was a movement in the States in the early 1950's.
They were reviving an old medieval tradition; often around the Lady
Chapels they would have kind of site-specific gardens, based on
Mary's virtues (purity, sweetness etc.) and plants associated with
those qualities would be in the gardens. They did this also with
Christ - gardens with plant names like the Blood of Christ, Crown
of Thorns, Christ's Cross, etc. There was a real symbolism to
flowers, very connected to the physical universe of the people."
Many of the plant names are wonderfully
descriptive. Another name for Columbine, for
instance, is "Lady's Slippers"; Harebells
are "Lady's Thimble"; "Our Lady's Mantle"
is the name for a plant whose leaf holds
water on its surface, shielding its slender
stem from damage in a hard rainfall; what
we know as Bachelor's Button is also called
"Our Lady's Crown"; Forget-me-nots are "Our
Lady's Eyes." One plant, commonly called
Lungwort, is also named "Our Lady's Milk."
It has white spots on the surface of the
leaves, and the legend is that Mary stopped
Lily of the Valley to nurse Jesus on the way to Egypt, and
Mary's Tears some of her milk fell onto the plant.
Ladder to Heaven
Interest in Mary Garden being rekindled
The first public Mary Garden in the United States is located
at the Angelus Tower of St. Joseph's Church, Woods Hole, Cape Cod,
Massachusetts. It was established in 1932 with over fifty Flowers
of Our Lady of the medieval countrysides of England, and is
maintained to this day. By 1965, research had documented over 800
flowers named for Christ, Our Lady and the saints.
In addition to several gardens in the United States, there
are Mary Gardens in Knock, Ireland; Akita, Japan; and at Lincoln
Cathedral in England. Beginning in 1951, the volunteer lay group
that initiated the idea made available kits for starting a Mary
Garden "as a prayerful, religious work of stewardship for God's
flower riches and artistry with devotion, praise, thanksgiving,
meditation and commitment." The idea took hold and Mary Gardens
could be found at schools, parishes, burial plots, institutions and
shrines. During the 1970's and 80's, interest in Mary Gardens
declined, but is now being rekindled, partly as a result of
initiatives like the Mary Garden Web site. The Web site
(www.mgardens.org) was established in 1995, and is run by a
committed group of volunteers in the United States and Ireland.
The site offers a short history and lists of relevant books. In
keeping with the nature of the endeavour, the final line on the Web
site states: "Permission granted to reproduce for promotion of the
greater glory of God through knowledge, honour, praise and
veneration of, and through recourse to, the Blessed Virgin Mary."
It appears relatively easy to start up a Mary Garden. As
Santarossa puts it: "If you've got 10 plants in your garden, you
can be sure that six or seven of them already have a religious
name!"
Her own garden is well established, but there are still
challenges. "What I have to get going are things that are blooming
throughout the seasons," she says. She also has, finally, found a
large piece of artwork - it's actually a carving on a door - that
she plans to place in one part of the garden as a shrine. The spot
intended for the shrine is in the east corner of the garden, which,
she points out, is where in the old cathedrals the icon comer was
traditionally located.
It connects me to so many things...
Santarossa's affection for Mary is
expressed in her collection of art as
well as in the Mary Garden. But the
garden has a particular resonance.
People of the past named these plants.
It's clear that they keenly felt the
compassion of Mary and viewed her as the
mother protector in their own lives.
They used the plants that they saw around
them every day to remind them of stories
from the gospels, or legends about the
Ho1y family or the saints. Through the
religious names of plants, established in
medieval times, we are connected to those
Mary's Sword people, their faith, and our own faith.
(of Sorrow)
I ask Santarossa about the garden and its role in her
spiritual life. She says that having a garden dedicated to Mary is
good because "it's easier to think about things if you can connect
them and have a focal point. This is a low-maintenance, city
garden, but it's a quiet little spot. It connects me to so many
things, that's what I like about it."
Some common plants associated with Mary:
Hosta Lilies: Assumption Lilies, because they bloom on Aug. 15
Lovage: Our Lady's Duster
Lily of the Valley: Mary's Tears or Ladder to Heaven
Canterbury,Bells: Our Lady's Nightcap
Harebells: Lady's Thimble
Bleeding Heart: Ma?y's Heart
Solomon's seal: Mary's Locket
Marigold: contraction of "Mary's Gold"
Iris: Our Lady's Sword (of sorrow)
Quaking grass: Ma?y's Hair
Aquilegia: Lady's Shoes
Trefoil: Our Lady's Boots
Speedwell-.' Obedient Plant
Peonies: Mary's Roses
Nikki Abraham is a Toronto artist and writer; her English
background gives her a genetic attraction to gardens.
A book about Mary Gardens, "Mary's Flowers, Gardens, Legends and
Meditations", by Vincenzina Krymow has been published this fall
(1999) by Novalis, of which Santarossa is Director of Sales and
Marketing.
Lauretta Santarossa and Vincenzina Krymow in Mary Garden
Reprinted with permission.
(Color photo added for this reprint)