Spring Has Sprung! And so has our Mary Garden

Spring has finally arrived down under in Australia and while we built this beautiful new Mary Garden in late May, sickness descended and we were unable to fill it with flowers. So we waited. We waited for our spring, planning to have the flowers in by the time another Marian month came around ~ the month of October and the month of the Holy Rosary.

This display of our new Mary Garden filled with delightful spring flowers has coincided with the first of a new season of "Living Lives of Loveliness" carnivals.

Paula over at A Catholic Harvest will be showcasing the beautiful season of Autumn for those ladies in the northern hemisphere and for ladies like myself who live in the southern hemisphere, we will be reminding everyone in the carnival of the joys of Spring!

The English Daisy is known as "Mary Love" and while this beautiful daisy plant is not exactly that, I like to think all daisies as "Mary Loves" ~ so beautiful and feminine.

Geranium is known as the "Gentle Virgin" ~ this is my mother's favourite flower as it reminds her of her own childhood and mother. If there is one word I could use to describe my own mother, it would be 'gentle' ~ so a lovely extra association for me.

~ I AM THE ROSE OF SHARON~

"I am the rose of Sharon

the Lily of the valley,

I am the perfect flower

that unfolded for God alone...."

Some more "Mary Loves"..... there is a beautiful legend connected to daisies about Our Lady and Our Lord:

"One day the Child Jesus first cut himself - on His hand - with a sharp object, in the yard of their Nazareth home. Some drops of his Precious Blood fell on the all white little blooms of the English Daisies at his feet, some of which then turned blood red - and remained so henceforth - so that ever after when she saw the flowers, and other red flowers in the yard, Mary, with a rush of sorrowful love, reflected on Jesus' future shedding of his blood."

The daisies we have in our Mary Garden are blush and light pink, so 'tinged' with the Precious Blood of the Child Jesus and a reflection of the sorrowful ponderings of Our Blessed Mother....

A lovely vibrant Fuchsia, otherwise known as "Our Lady's Eardrops"

"The gently drooping flowers resemble ear-drops or pendant earrings. It is told that Jesus may have playfully hung flower jewels of ruby and amethyst colors on his mother’s ears.

In Devonshire, England, the old folks said Our Lady’s Ear-drop was the only name they had ever known for the flower. It is said that their forefathers, on first seeing the flowers and noticing how they resembled ear-drops, named them in Mary’s honor. It may be that pious persons named the blossoms Our Lady’s Ear-drops as their way of paying tribute to Mary, who through her ears “heard the word of God, and kept it.” ~ St Anthony's Messenger

"I am the Immaculate Virgin

the dwelling of the most high,

The most chaste spouse of the Holy Spirit,

and the mother of the Word...."

Here is our miniature Bougainvillea in a soft, delicate pink. The Bougainvillea whose origin is from Brazil is known as "Trinitaria" ~ Trinity. This would be due to each flower head comprising of three petals and three stamens.

"This double symbolism reminds us that the mystery of the Holy Trinity was first revealed to Mary at the Annunciation, and that now she beholds and shares in the life of the three divine persons in the beautific vision of heaven." ~ St Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish

These delicate roses come from a beautiful minature standard rose called, "China Doll" it is a medium peach in colour. The Rose of course is signature of everything marian - we think of the rosary and marian titles such as "Rose of Sharon", "Mystica Rosa" (Mystical Rose) a title from the Litany of Our Lady. Then there are apparitions of Our Lady like Our Lady of Guadalupe where she associates herself with the rose in a miraculous way.

I have two other rose standards in my Mary Garden, they are both the same, 'Seduction Rose' and I have to say I feel that rose is poorly named, look at the beautiful image below and to me it has a very childlike feel to it or it expresses to me the gentle love of a mother. I certainly look forward to many profuse blooms from these standards in the next week or so, that remind me of my heavenly mother's tender, soft love for us all.

This beautiful site speaks of the rose in connection to Our Lady very well:

"The rose is regarded as the "queen of flowers", and often symbolizes Mary, the Queen of Heaven. Also an almost universal symbol of perfect love, its color, perfection of form, and fragrance, as well as its thorns signifies Mary's role in salvation history as the Mother of God the Savior who was crowned with thorns and shed His blood on the Cross for love of mankind. The rose, arising from a thorny bush, also signifies Mary, the Mystical Rose, "our fallen Nature's solitary boast", who alone of the human race was conceived without sin. It also may contain a parallel with the fiery thorn bush from which God spoke to Moses: Mary, immaculately conceived, was the means through which God became Man, The Word made flesh."

"I am all for my beloved,

his turning is always to me

within me resides the fullness of grace

the Trinity is at home...."

These orchids are called 'Crucifix Orchids'. The wild orchid is known as "Mary's Hand of Pity" or "Our Lady's Tears" ~ Mary's Hand of Pity particularly touches me and so that is how I would like to see these beautiful orchids. The colours here a gorgeous, a stunning pink and a red that is a real burgundy.

There seems to me, a lovely connection between this orchid's real name 'Crucifix Orchid' and 'Mary's Hand of Pity.' This orchid is also a stunning colour, a yellow/orange, a beautiful mix with the other two orchids surrounding Our Lady's statue.

"I am the pure lily of true virginity.

joy of the Bridegroom was made manifest in me.

I am the violet of the greatest humility

most pleasing to the Lord...."

Here are our delightful Marigolds or "Mary Golds" This is one of the most traditional flowers connected to Mary, with many legends, some referring back to the time of Christ:

"The marigold was called Mary's Gold by early Christians who placed the flowers around statues of Mary, offering the blossoms in place of coins. It was told that Mary used the blossoms as coins. A legend says that during the Flight into Egypt the Holy Family was accosted by a band of thieves. They took Mary's purse and when they opened it, marigolds fell out. " ~ Mary's Flowers

The beautiful 'face' of a marigold follows the light of the sun, day after day:

"Present-day scientists are still awed by the marigold. Some botanists believe the flower holds the key to a few baffling problems of the plant world. People of science were interested in the golden flower centuries before it attracted the attention of Western Christians. To a degree quite unique among medieval plants, Mary's gold exhibited a strange sensitivity to light from the sun.

Every farmer and gardener knew that the flower opened its half-shut eyes each day about 9 a.m.. For about six hours it slowly turned its head to follow the bright sun. About 3 p.m., it began folding its petals for another night of slumber.

Early observers had some interesting theories, but no systematic body of facts. Modern analysts have extended the knowledge of this phenomenon, but still stumble in a corridor enshrouded by a fog of mystery.

Today botanists refer to the marigold's movement as phototropism (light-turning). Most, if not all, plants arrange their leaves, blossoms and stems in response to light. Conspicuous movements by the marigold and sunflower simply dramatize a process taking place more slowly among practically all green-leaf organisms." ~ Mary's Gold by By Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.

This movement in nature reflects perfectly the relationship between Our Lady and her Divine Son. As the Holy Father Pope John Paul II beautifully describes this relationship in his apostolic letter on the rosary, Rosarium Virginis Mariae when he tells us what the rosary is:

The rosary is:

"nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ.”

Here is our delicate Sweet Alyssum, it has a few marian names associated with it, Blessed by Mary or Mary's Little Cross. Each little flowerhead is a tiny cross, and so this is the symbol of the interior Cross of Christ borne within Mary's heart and soul ~ her hidden sorrow.

"The carnation speaks of my mother's love.

The iris the queenship bestowed from above.

lavender tells of my holiness

the purity of my life...."

I particularly love snapdragons! They remind me of my childhood along with poppies and sweet peas. Snapdragons have a beautiful association to a very touching legend about the 'Little Shoes of the Infant Jesus':

"As the shapes of snapdragon blooms bring tomind little shoes, we envisage in our imagination the little feet and shoes of Jesus, and Mary's loving motherly sharing and bonding with him as she cared for him in their Nazareth home. In imitation of Mary, may we ever nurture and protect the innocence and purity of our own children as we instruct them in the truths and virtues of the Faith." ~St Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish

I love lavenders so much, I would think a flower garden as not complete without a bush or two.

It bears the beautiful name of, "Mary's Drying Plant" due to this marian legend:

"After Mary had washed Jesus' clothes and was looking for a place to hang them to dry, she saw a gray bush of lavender and on its branches she spread the snow-white baby clothes. The sun and the wind dried the clothes and when Mary came to gather them, the clothes smelled sweet and clean and the bushes were fragrant with a sweet scent that lavender now has. It is said that the fragrance which came from the earthly body of the Son of God was transferred to the plant, giving it its unique scent.

Lavender was said to be one of the plants most loved by the Blessed Virgin because it represented purity, cleanliness and virtue."

Isn't that particularly beautiful?

"The lady's slipper and the marigold were named after me.

Holy Spirit's flower columbine shall be.

Cyclamen is for my sorrowful and Immaculate Heart

bluebells ring out my joys...."

The rosmary plant I have here is special, it is called a "Gallipoli Rosemary" on the back of the tag it says:

"This plant has been produced from cutting originating from a wild rosemary brought back from the hills of Gallipoli by a wounded Digger. Purchase of this plant will assist in the establishment of avenues of trees to commemorate all lives lost in service to our Nation since the historic landing at Gallipoli by the ANZACS on April 25th 1915. Rosemary is for remembrance. "Lest we Forget"

"The Latin name of this plant (Rosmarinus officinalis) means "Dew-of-the-Sea" probably because rosemary generally grows well by the seashore. Rosemary was used as incense by the ancient Romans and according to legend, Mary sheltered the baby Jesus under a rosemary bush.

Rosemary is also known as "Rose of the Sea", "Rose of Mary", "Mary's Nosegay" The word nosegay comes from a Middle English word that meant "something pretty for the nose to smell."

"One of the loveliest of all herbal legends is the story of why rosemary has blue flowers. When the holy family fled into Egypt, a weary Mary spread her cloak on a white flowered rosemary. The flowers miraculously changed to the blue of Mary’s cloak. The Spanish name for rosemary is romero, or pilgrims plant, and derives from this legend. For botanical accuracy there is a species with white flowers, but the rest bloom in shades of blue.

Another legend states that rosemary will never grow taller than a person, nor exceed Christ’s age at death. Integral to Biblical and medieval gardens, rosemary is also found in Shakespearean gardens, for the various references to rosemary in his plays such as this line from Hamlet, "There’s rosemary; that’s for remembrance." ~ Secret Garden

The colourful Sweet William is known as "Our Lady's Tuft" and the legend connected to the title once again involves the Holy Family's flight into Eygypt. During one of their rests along the way, Our Lady rested upon a patch of Sweet William, as they grow in rounded tufts, like a cushion.

Petunias are named, "Mary's Praises". These blooms were named for the praises that rise from the lips of her devotees. I can only guess that when we really want to sing someone's praises, we want to 'trumpet them' to the world! Petunias are certainly very eye-catching trumpets!

"My Immaculate Heart is that secret garden

where all the virtues blossom in sweet harmony for the Trinity."

Diane C Farr

We planted in winter our vege patch.....

Now that it is spring, everything is growing! We are harvesting broccoli, cauliflower, cos lettuces and soon we will be enjoying our roma and cherry tomatoes!

It is certainly not hard to see the glorious season of spring all around us!

Musings of Mary Gardens and May Day Crownings..

We once had a beautiful Mary Garden. It was brimming with beautiful flowers, roses and in the middle, Our Lady on her column. It really was our pride and joy and nothing was too good for our heavenly mother.

We held a beautiful May Crowning a year or so after we had initially built the garden. My posting on this event was my first blog posting at Under Her Starry Mantle..one day I had no faintest intention to blog and then a Marian Fair of Loveliness was hosted and the next day it just sort of happened in order to showcase our own loveliness down under, Starry Mantle had began!

Then something awful happened. Termites got into our old railway sleepers around the edges of the garden and it had to be quickly dismantled...then we had some hard years..health etc and our dear statue has been a lonesome figure upon a mound of earth, turned to grass...

The good news, a new and more beautiful Mary Garden is in the works! I am SO EXCITED! No hints, just photos when it is all done and hopefully soon. We hope to have this garden up and running for our May Crowning we intend to host on the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians on the 24th of May...Our Lady under this title is our patroness her in Australia.

I'm busily pouring over Mary Flowers by Vincenzina Krymow and working out what flowers we would like to have in our garden this time. Hopefully keeping it very authentic to traditional Marian flowers from down through the centuries. I think I'll be ordering soon from All Rare Herbs it is going to be fun! I thought this time too, that I would buy some timber and make a little garden sign for each flower species in the garden that would look something like this:

"Mary's Purification"
Cinquefoil

Luckily (or maybe it wasn't luck?) I found the perfect piece of timber for these signs at a garage sale for a song! I think I'm going to paint them white or cream and paint the writing in blue..

Enjoying the splendor of all things green and healthy

"For every illness on earth, there is a herb. Many people died, while the herbs that could have saved them, grew on their graves."

Father Sebastian Kneip (1821 - 1897)

It is spring in Australia and even though we are in a drought and are on the tightest restrictions ever experienced, we are using our 'grey water' (laundry water, where we only use natural washing powder) and bucket the grey water onto our precious plants, mainly fruit trees and herbs at present.

I hope you enjoy my wander through the garden on the feast of Sts Michael, Gabriael & Raphael.

We have just bought some new fruit trees and roses in absolutely beautiful pots at a garage sale for a SONG! And look what I got ~ something I have always wanted - a mulberry tree! See the little mulberries on the tree at present? I seriously look forward to the day to making my own batch of mulberry jam from this delightful berry.

It is in a enormous pot and so I can place it anywhere in the yard. Dh is making a chicken yard at present and I have read it is an ideal tree to have in a poultry run, with chickens cleaning up the mess they drop.

Here is my box of comfrey. A most special herb which we eat. I hope to transplant these out into the old vege garden, once dh has spruced it up again. It is very accessible at present on the front patio, I can go out and pick leaves for meals or just to nibble on when heading off in the car. Here is a great link on comfrey and its uses.

The links on this post have come from Isabell Shiphard's site, Herbs Are Special and she has written a book on herbs that is simply the best herb book around. I have SO many herb books, but none compare to this one. If you are looking for just ONE herb book in your home, this is it. Otherwise this page on her site gives you excerpts from her book on a certain range of herbs and it is worth browsing through.

A few years ago we bought many 5year matured fruit trees from an elderly man who could no longer keep up the care for them. They had come in 44litre drums cut in half and so we have planted most into the garden.

This Eureka lemon tree fruits prolificly and is my pride and joy. We are big lemon eaters (or should I say drinkers) and I am especially appreciating lemons in this pregnancy, drinking cool, refreshing lemon water throughout the day.

Here is a close up of the fruit and flowers on my favourite lemon trees. I just love walking out our front gate and breathing in the fragrance of those flowers that wafts over.

This lemon tree is a Variegated Pink Lemonade tree, it is not a enormous fruiter as yet but when it has lemons, they are stripped and the inside is a slight reddish/pink, thus earning it's name.

Now when we bought this one, the man said it was a red grapefruit tree but when we planted it out, there was an old tag near the roots saying it was an orange tree - I am HOPING it is an orange tree! It is yet to get any fruit that makes it to maturity (thanks to some chubby fingered children) for me to get to the bottom of this mystery.

SHHHH! Don't tell the children, it has one little gem at present, deep in the middle of the foliage, I am hoping it will go unnoticed....

Here is our smaller lemon tree, a Villa Franca and it has been knocked about more vigously by the drought and has only a few fruit and flowers at present.

This is one of the new trees bought recently, it is a grafted.....something....the lady said an orange or mandarine, I think it looks like an orange tree to me. This tree had been badly knocked about by the drought but in the last month's heavy rains it had re-shot and I have carefully cut away all the dead branches and twigs, it has fruit coming on already.

The smaller citrus in front is a lemon, we believe, and it is very thorny - I need to look up which lemon is the thorny variety.. I think Lisbon.

You can't take photo's in the garden without catching one of the children in the photo, fossicking around and enjoying the day outdoors as only children can.

I had to add one of my little angels that grace our house on the feast of the archangels! In better years, they have had little flowers tumbling over, creating a beautiful sight.

Here is my fairly new herb wheelbarrow. I bought this at a garage sale complete with herbs in it and have been adding my own favourite herbs to it since. It came with a rosemary, curry plant, mint (it is now growing out of the cracks in the wheelbarrow on the side too) sorrel & parsley. I've added gotu kola, herb robert, nastursiums & thyme to date.

Never did I realise just how practical and handy this wheelbarrow would prove. Firstly, I can move it more to the shade or sun at will. I can push it over to the part of the patio that is not covered by roof to catch any rain that comes.

When I make dh's lunch to take to work I always make a salad concoction and it starts with a bed of lettuce. Mixed in the lettuce I add chopped up, comfrey, sorrel, parsley, curry plant, rosemary, mint, herb robert and since gotu kola is my most recent edition, soon to add it as well in the mix. Comfrey, herb robert and gotu kola are excellent herbs for longevity and good health, their benefits are impressive if you get time to read the info on them all, via the links.

So I suppose I could say that the wheelbarrow is our home pharmacy, particularly for dh!

Here is a close up of the herb robert, the slightly reddish looking plant, not all the leaves are that colour, in fact most are green and they have delicate pink flowers and little seed pods I pick with hard and push back into the dirt to germinate a new plant.

Herb robert was named after the 11th century French saint Robert, Abbot of Molerne, famous for his medical abilities. In this day and age it is a immune enhancer and used successfully in treating cancers. It's special element is germanium, which has the ability to make oxygen available to the cells, the more oxygen available, the greater the ability for the body to successfully fight off disease and illness.

See the rich looking soil? Well, it's actually worm castings and it is so rich and fine looking, the plants just can't get enough of it!

Our herb wheelbarrow sits next to our patio seat, I hope to keep an eye out for an old wheelbarrow at a garage sale that I can paint and make into another herb container for the other side of the seat, there are more herbs to have on hand!

This bust of Our Lord is right next to the front door and is such a beautiful rendition of His noble face.

Here is one of the roses we bought yesterday, we paid $25 and these pots we have priced at $70 new, such a bargin!

Above hangs my trusty watering can, into this we put the grey water and keep these plants happy! We have our french doors open at present, allowing the sea breezes to keep us pleasant during the early spring, as it hots up, I'm afraid they are closed and the air conditioner is turned on and that will become a necessity as I carry my baby through the summer till my due date in mid-late January.

Meet Violetta...(I feel my Anne with an 'e' coming out in me, introducing you to my imaginary friends) she is on our patio in a shaded spot and usually, (when it is not drought stricken) she has a most delicate little creeping violet cascading from her head, an utterly precious sight like something out of Midsummer's Night Dream.

We have had our chickens for 2 years now and enjoy collecting organic, free-ranging eggs. We also add everyday to their organic feed, a cup of dried Stinging Nettle which adds valuable nutrients to their yolks and keeps these chickens laying on average, an egg a day. We buy the Stinging Nettle from the bulk bins of the organic supermarket we shop at and so the nettle is very inexpensive this way.

The coop is fairly new and dh is fencing in this side of the yard so they can free-range a little more freely, coming to roost here at night.

"When counting, try not to mix chickens with blessings."

- Unknown