Brent Ogburn, Director of Business Development for Grunder Landscape Co., planned the indoor garden at UD’s Marian Library around plants that would be available from local nurseries and in bloom during the exhibit dates. Taken from the writings of John Stokes, Jr., who popularized the idea of Mary Gardens, all the plants have medieval names related to Mary or the Bible. When perusing Stokes’s lists or the list below, Ogburn said, it’s important to remember that nurseries frequently introduce and feature new varieties of old plants, so a particular variety may not be available at any given time. Look for any variety of the type of plant meant by “Black-eyed Susan,” “Daylily,” or “Clematis,”, not necessarily the variety indicated below:

From the exhibit’s complete run:
“Our Lady’s Veil” (Baby’s Breath – Gypsophila ‘Festival Star’)
“Mary’s Heart” (Bleeding Heart – Dicentra spectabilis)
“Virgin’s Bower” (Clematis ‘Gillian Blades’
“St.Joseph’s Lily” (Daylily – Hemerocallis ‘Happy Returns’)
“Michaelmas Daisy” (New England Aster)
“Pentecost Rose” (White Peony)
“Mary Flower of God” (OxEye Daisy – Luecanthemum m., ‘Snowcap’)
“Mary’s Shawl” (Meadow Sage – Salvia viola ‘Cardonna’)
“Mary’s Pink” (Maiden Pink – Dianthus ‘Neon Star’)
“Golden Jerusalem” (Black-eyed Susan – Fudbeckia fulgida “Early Bird Gold’)
“Our Lady’s Gloves” (Foxglove – Digitalis purpurea ‘Excelsior’)
“Mary’s Drying Plant” (Lavender – Lavenudla a. ‘Kielapro’)
“Ave Maria” (Hydrangea – Hudrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’)
“Our Lady’s Nightcap” (Bellflower – Campanula glomerata ‘Superba’)

For Spring:
“Mary’s Gold” (Sunflower – Cineraria)
“Mary’s Prayer” (Tulip)

For Summer:
“Star of Bethlehem” (Rieger Begonia)
“Lily-Among-Thorns” (Hyacinth)

For Fall
“All Saint’s Flower” (Chrysanthamum)
“Our Lady’s Little Ladles” (Cyclamen)

For Winter
“Christmas Kalanchoe” (Kalanchoe)
“Mary’s Star” (Daffodil)

Suggested but not available for the UD garden:
Lily of the Valley
Hollyhock
Viola

Brent Ogburn’s particular suggestions for home gardeners:
Iris
Lavender
Black-eyed Susan
Clematis
Arborvitae (shrub)
Roses
Garden phlox
Hydrangea
Aster

For a full list of plants from UD’s exhibit, download: udayton.edu/libraries/_resources/docs/mg-exhibit-planting-list.pdf

To Enter The Catholic Telegraph’s Show us your Mary Garden Contest, click here