This summer my gardens have been slightly neglected. With the kids being more and more active, I can't contain them in the backyard when the other neighbor kids are out running around like banshees.
My new plantings on the west side of the house are coming along. Rabbits did manage to gnaw off part of my special type of Veronica, but I think one of the three has survived. I sprinkled Bone Meal around and that seeems to have kept the rabbits at bay.
My front yard needs a great deal of work since one side is just a jumble of plants that are all the same height. Just not very attractive.
Some people I know have Mary Gardens. I'd like to do this, but would have to rip up other areas to put it in.
A Mary Garden is a garden filled with flowers, plants and trees named for Our Lady and Jesus, designed to be a place of beauty that reminds us of our Lord and our Lady, allows one to experience God's creation, and invites prayer and contemplation. Because Mary is a type of the Church as Bride, the garden should be enclosed if at all possible, based on the words in the fourth chapter of Solomon's Canticle of Canticles.
The Fisheaters website has a HUGE list of plants for a Mary garden and their meanings. I have plants throughout the yard that I bought because of their religious significance, specifically Lady's Mantle and Hyssop, but don't have a place that is dedicated to the Blessed Mother. Maybe I'll clean up the front yard first, then plan a garden that will be more of a formal Mary garden in the back yard.
But, with homeschooling starting soon, I don't know when I will have time to concentrate on planning a garden! I do need an good excuse to attend the Friends' School Plant Sale again in the Spring *cough* I'd attend the plant sale even if I had a cement yard!
The hyssop I have in my yard is a reminder of the Dominican Rite parish I used to attend in Seattle. The Asperges, sung as the priest came out and sprinkled Holy Water on the congregation, was one of my favorite parts of the Mass. I'm not so enamored with the hyssop in my yard since it is very prolific and is now everywhere.
Asperges me, Domine, hyssopo, et mundabor: lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor. (Ps. 50) Miserere mei, Deus, secundum magnam misericordiam tuam. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Asperges me, Domine, hyssopo, et mundabor: lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor.
* Link to Fisheaters and their extensive list of plants for a Mary Garden
* Link to a prior post of mine on the Dominican Rite, a beautiful and rich Rite you should experience if you're able to find one being said.
4 comments:
Here's some info on mary gardens: http://www.mgardens.org/ my favorite is this story: http://www.mgardens.org/JS-IMG-MARY.html
What a wonderful post! Thank you.
Thanks, Mairin! Do you have a Mary Garden? I'm just getting the hang of gardening. Would like to have more time to do it, but with the kids being so young, I have to keep a close eye on them!
Welcome to my blog, Soutenus!
Yes, we do, fledgling though it is. We have an arbor under which sits a statue of Our Lady of Grace. We usually have blue morning glories climbing it but are considering putting in white climbing roses, instead. I'd prefer blue for Our Lady, but obviously, white will also work.
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