Common Name/Religious Name:
Hollyhock/St. Joseph’s Staff, Pansy/Our Lady’s Delight, Bleeding Heart/Mary’s Heart, Columbine/Our Lady’s Shoes, Primrose/Our Lady’s Keys, Black Eyed Susan/Golden Jerusalem, Cornflowers/Mary’s Crown, Cosmos/St. Michaels’ Flower, Petunia/Our Lady’s Praises, Zinnia/The Virgin, Gladiolus/Ladder to Heaven, Geranium/Gentle Virgin, Daffodil/Mary’s Star, Lily of the Valley/Our Lady’s Tears, Peony/Pentecost Rose, Tulip/Mary’s Prayer, Rose/Emblem of Mary.
A Mary Garden is a collection of plants and flowers that have specific “Mary names” or religious names in addition to their botanical and common names.
John S. Stokes Jr. was the founder of the Mary’s Gardens movement, which started in 1951 to promote the creation of Mary Gardens and to connect gardeners of all skill levels. Proposed first for home gardens, Mary Gardens soon became fixtures at schools, parishes, burial plots, institutions, and shrines. As outreach was an important aspect of the movement, Stokes wrote, designed, and compiled gardening guides and garden plans to encourage people to plant Mary Gardens, promoting them as prayerful, religious works of stewardship, devotion, praise, thanksgiving, meditation, and commitment for God’s artistry in creation.
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