Speaking to a gathering of young people in the Philippines in January 2015 – just four months before the release of his encyclical Laudato Si’ – Pope Francis said, “as stewards of God’s creation, we are called to make the earth a beautiful garden for the human family.”

The 184-page encyclical, subtitled “On Care for our Common Home,” is a clarion call for all people to join together to preserve the environment, work against global warming, reject harmful consumerism and work for the protection of the Earth and its people.

One of the most common ways people of goodwill have responded to Pope Francis’s encyclical is by renewing their interest in gardening. And, as winter turns into spring, we celebrate this time of rebirth by considering just what we want to plant in our gardens.

By the way, the patron saint of gardeners is not St. Francis of Assisi – it is St. Fiacre. The Irish-born seventh-century monk planted a vegetable and herb garden at his monastery, and he became famous for the cures he was able to obtain by using the plants he grew.

St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals, ecologists and the environment. However, the great saint was once asked by a fellow friar, “Brother Francis, if you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do today?” Francis answered, “I would keep tending my garden.”

 A fine way to heed Pope Francis’s call “to make the earth a beautiful garden for the human family” while at the same time honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary would be by planting and tending gardens in honor of Our Lady. It is not a far stretch to unite our love for Our Lady with tending a garden.

“She (Mary) is the Woman, ‘clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars’ (Revelation 12:1),” Pope Francis reminded us in Laudato Si’ (241). “Carried up into heaven, she is the Mother and Queen of all creation. In her glorified body, together with the Risen Christ, part of creation has reached the fullness of its beauty.”

Bible verses read during Masses on the feast days of the Blessed Virgin liken her to flowers, especially the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley. There is also the beautiful Marian hymn that includes this verse: “Bring flowers of the rarest, bring flowers of the fairest.  From garden and woodland and hillside and vale... O Mary, we crown you with blossoms today.”

The tradition of planting flowers, shrubs and herbs in honor of the Virgin Mary dates back to medieval times. These plots were called “Mary gardens,” and the faithful thought that flowers were perhaps the best proof on earth of the beauty, glory and goodness of God. The Blessed Virgin was also considered an image of Our Lord’s beauty, glory and goodness, and thus the connection between the Mother of God and flowers.

That imagery continues to this day, and during May, at many churches and shrines, garlands of flowers will be placed as a crown on the head of the Blessed Virgin.

Planting and tending a Mary garden is easy and can be a lot of fun (not to mention good exercise and an opportunity to contemplate the greatness of God in His creation).  Start with a plan: decide which flowers to include based on how much sunlight filters into the space selected. Usually, a statue of the Blessed Virgin is placed in the garden. Bird baths and fountains can also be placed in a Mary garden.

Look for a variety of flowers so that the garden is always in bloom from early spring through the first frost, and choose a mixture of colors. White flowers symbolize Mary’s joys, red flowers symbolize her sorrows, and gold (yellow) flowers symbolize her glories.

Two flowers that are perfect for a Mary garden are lilies and roses. Lilies, since biblical times, have been a symbol of purity, virginity and innocence. Roses not only gave the rosary its name – St. Dominic promoted the rosary as a garland of prayers to Our Lady – but also figured in Our Lady’s apparition to St. Juan Diego at Guadalupe and to St. Bernadette at Lourdes. Ideal rose varieties for the Mary garden would be black Madonna, love, Virgo, sheer bliss, lady, honor and prima donna.

Other flowers to consider are flowers that were once popularly called by names in honor of Mary: marigold (Mary’s gold), Madonna lily, columbine (Our Lady’s Slipper); peony (Mary’s rose) and daffodil (Mary’s star). 

Herbs would be appropriate for a Mary garden. Spearmint and rosemary are good choices. Spearmint used to be called Mint of Our Lady and was strewn on church floors as a deodorizer. Rosemary figures in a quaint legend about Mary. According to tradition, it was said to have blossomed with white flowers until Our Lady used the bush to dry the clothing of Baby Jesus. Since that time, the legend continues, Rosemary blooms with blue flowers in honor of its use by Our Lady.

Do not worry if you live in an apartment or do not have the time, talent or ability to cultivate a Mary garden. Small window boxes and terrariums can also be planted in honor of Our Lady. 

Starting a Mary garden – or even just adding a Mary-named plant to an existing garden – is a faithful act of reverence to the Blessed Virgin, and a delightful way to honor her. 

The flowers we plant in a Mary garden help us meditate on the goodness of God and the beauties of heaven and our obligation to care for the earth. These flowers also help us to make the passage from the Song of Songs (2:11-13) our own prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary: “The winter is past, the rains are over and gone. The flowers appear on earth, the time of pruning the vines has come... Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!”