• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Home Garden Joy
  • Home
  • How to Garden
    • Seed Starting
    • Plant Profiles
    • Tools & Equipment
    • Raised Bed Gardening
  • Vegetables
  • Fruit
  • Herbs
  • About
    • Books & Classes
      • Herbalism Classes
      • Books for Christian Herbalists
      • Privacy Policy

Memorial Gardens, or Remembering Loved Ones Through Plants

June 29, 2011 by Jeanne

Memorial gardens (other than those at cemeteries) are gardens planted to remember loved ones. What plants can you include in garden design to remember friends and family?

Memorial Gardens: Plants to Remember

 

It seems as if I use many flowers and plants to remember people I love who are living still or people I love who have passed on. My mother, for instance, loved the garden and my childhood memories are tinted with the yellow of Kerria japonica, a snowball viburnum that shaded the screened in porch, gladiolus blooming next to the brick, tumbles of yellow and red roses. I found myself unconsciously drawn to such plants as I selected flowers for my gardens at my new home here in Virginia. “Rosemary for remembrance” may be just a saying, but all plants bring with them powerful connotations and memories.

Kerria japonica. Thank you Joan!

Today, the Kerria bloomed for the first time, reminding me again of the power of flowers and plants to help us remember. This poor Kerria came as a bundle of sticks caked in mud. I’d wanted one for ages, but the only one I could find was from a nursery online and they wanted $25 for a little potted plant. No thank you. I put the word out among my gardening friends that I wanted one, and wouldn’t you know it but a short time later my friend Joan called to say that a neighbor was ripping out a whole hedge of them, and would I like one? Sure! She showed up with a bag that looked like a bunch of green twigs caked in mud.  We planted them without much hope in a sunny spot in the new garden area on the southern side of the house that we installed this spring, and waited. Leaves appeared, but they still looked like sticks.  Now today; one single yellow flower, like a pompom, stuck to the end of one of the twigs. The Kerria has bloomed at last!

Sunlight through the leaves of the snowball Viburnum, like stained glass

Mums for my dad; Kerria, snowball viburnum, Blaze roses for my mom; holly for Aunt Betty; butterflies for Aunt Lucille, because they are such a wonderful Christian symbol of rebirth and renewal.

What will people grow to remember me by, I wonder?  (Probably something weedy with thorns!)

Butterfly on butterfly bush today in the garden.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Previous Post: « Hot Summer Colors in the Garden
Next Post: Growing Sunflowers »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. NellJean

    June 29, 2011 at

    Pipevine Swallowtail on butterfly bush, marvelous capture.

    More of my plants have a history or a connection than not. One really neat thing is that I can grow in the garden here things that my mother cherished as pot plants farther north.

  2. keewee

    June 30, 2011 at

    I have a garden dedicated to the memory of my mother. In it I grow plants she liked.

  3. Jeanne

    June 30, 2011 at

    Nell Jean, thanks for the ID on the butterfly. That one bush seems to attract so many of the same species!

Primary Sidebar

Let’s Connect!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

As Seen in Porch

 As Seen in Porch

We were featured in Porch.com and answered reader's questions about indoor plants.

Explore All Gardening Articles

Latest Articles

  • Growing Eggplant: A Guide for Gardeners
  • Volunteer Plants – Nature’s Unexpected Gifts
  • Free eBook on Herbal Safety

Herbalism Classes & Supplies

Goods Shop by Herbal Academy – botanically inspired products

Disclosure

Home Garden Joy participates in two affiliate programs: Amazon and The Herbal Academy. Home Garden Joy earns a commission from qualifying purchases as an Amazon Associate. As an Herbal Academy Associate, HGJ also earns a commission when you sign up for classes or purchase herbs or supplies from The Herbal Academy. Herbal information and recipes on this site are provided for educational purposes only.

Footer

a tea pot, cup and saucer with mint leaves on the saucer

Free eBook on Herbal Safety

The Herbal Academy is offering a free ebook on herbal safety! I just sent an email out to our Home Garden Joy community and downloaded my copy and WOW – not only is it chock-full of information, it’s beautiful to look at, too. And free. Did I mention free? Learn More About Using Herbs –…

Read More

a closeup of watermelon

Watermelon in the Home Garden

Growing watermelon in the home garden is not for the faint of heart. I have plenty of room, and it still threatened to take over the garden. You will either need to leave a lot of room for the sprawling vines or look for varieties specifically marked for containers. Growing it on a trellis is…

Read More

a zucchini growing in a raised bed

Growing Zucchini in Raised Beds

Growing zucchini in raised beds ensures that this prolific vegetable has the best conditions to thrive. You can grow zucchini in pots or containers, but I prefer growing it in raised beds. This is a great vegetable to grow if you have a “black thumb” and kill plastic plants, because it’s hard to grow a…

Read More

a close up of onions

How to Grow Onions in Your Backyard

Wondering how to grow onions? I’ve grown onions here at Seven Oaks Farm in several ways: from “sets” or starter plants and from store-bought onions that sprouted in the bag! Onions don’t require much space, and you can grow a lot for the money you spend on starter plants. Let’s take a look at how…

Read More

  • Privacy Policy
  • About
  • Awards

Copyright © 2025 Home Garden Joy on the Foodie Pro Theme