Recently I was inspired to create a Mary Garden to honor Our Lady, especially because May is dedicated to Mary. I decided to make a tiny potted garden in a small, secluded spot in my yard where I like to pray and read. As I began researching different flowers and their various Marian names legends, I realized that many of the plants we have around our home have Marian names and meanings. So, it is May 1st and a perfect day to consecrate my Mary garden and all our gardens to our heavenly mother.
There are no rules to starting a Mary garden other than having the goal of creating a place of peace, prayer, and honor for Mary. Here are just a few flowers I have in my garden and their Marian names and meanings; this is by no means exhaustive, nor are any plants “required” in a Mary garden.
My Mary Garden Plant List
Roses (Red) – Mary, The Mystical Rose; Our Lady of the Rosary
Marigold – Mary’s Gold
Alyssum – Flower of the Cross
Clematis and Wisteria – Virgin’s Bower
Hosta – Assumption Lily
Hydrangea – Hail Mary
Zinnia – The Virgin
Cosmos – St. Micheal’s Flower
Larkspur – Mary’s Tears
Forsythia – Easter Bush
Impatiens – Mother’s Love
Pansy – Our Lady’s Delight
Dianthus – Incarnation
Begonia – Heart of Mary
Salvia – To Save; Herb of Mary
Violet – The Virgin’s Modesty
Thyme – The Virgin’s Humility
Lavender – Flight Into Egypt
Basil – Holy Communion Plant
“Be careful to commit to Mary the little thou desirest to offer, that the Lord may receive it though her hands” ~St. Bernard of Clairvaux
There are several plants I would like to add in the future, and many of these listed above that are not flowering yet, so I may do a future post with some additions and new ideas. There are many websites and books on the topic. I’ve added an index of sources at the end. Finally, here is a prayer I wrote to consecrate our gardens to Mary. Feel free to use it, use one of these from the USCCB, or write your own!
Mary Garden Consecration
Blessed Virgin Mary, I consecrate and entrust these gardens to you and place them in your holy protection. Please pray to your Son, Jesus, through and for which all things were made. Ask Him to bless this garden with beauty for the glory of God the Father. Ask your spouse, the Holy Spirit, to pour Himself out upon it so that it becomes fruitful, nourishing our bodies with its fruits and vegetables, our minds with its beauty, and our spirits with its prayerful peace. Mother Mary, I give to you all the flowers in this garden as a fragrant bouquet of love. Bless this garden with its unique beauty and all of its successes and failures. Bless the work of my hands and the sweat of my brow as I toil to help it bring forth good things to fill up the hungry. Dear Mary, I even offer you the weeds that intrude here. May they remind me that I am beloved to you and to God, even with all my imperfections and sins, just as this garden is beloved to me with all its weeds, problem areas, and failures. When I weed this garden, may I root out the weeds deeply and be reminded to root out my sins completely at their source. May I never be attached to them. May I always plant virtues of beauty in place of my sins. Blessed Mother, thank you for watching over this garden, my home, my family, and me with your loving care. I consecrate and entrust them all to your Son Jesus, through you, His Blessed Mother and my own. Amen.