Celebrating Love in Bloom:
How to Plan a Stunning Valentine's Day Garden
As many of you know St. Valentine was a patron saint of lovers. Did you know that he was also the patron saint of small gardens. No, I am not making it up. Its first I have ever heard of it.
I have a bone of contention with St. Valentines day. It isn’t because of all the hype. I hope you will hear me out. Its about all those lovely roses that are unnaturally forced to bloom at a time when they do not do so in nature.
I think St. Valentine would not be happy. Better to give your loved one a rose that is a bare rooted rose that will grow in a pot or a container or can be planted in part of the garden. In the writers garden here in Cordressagagh I have surrounded it with the David Austin rose named after the author Emily Bronte. This is a symbolic reminder to the writers who visit the garden to attend at Bee’s writing workshop to bloom their talent.
The rose then stays alive and hopefully the love that it is a symbol of says alive in your heart. So, prior to Valentines Day why not buy a bare rooted rose. Maybe you can find one with a name that has a romantic meaning for you – even a romantic meaning for you beyond the one you are with.
Suggestions for Romantic Roses
Salinan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons – Rosa Aprodite
Here is a site that has a section entitled Romantic Roses. Looking through them I found two that might be of interest to you.
· Aphrodite. – Comes gift wrapped.
So even if it may be too late for this Valentine’s Day why not plan to buy this as a gift for one you love for next year.
Other Plant Ideas for St Valentines Day
In Cordressagagh I will be honouring St. Valentine and honouring “Love’s Purpose” by planting up the beautiful “Dicentra.” This beautiful little plant has many different names that include: -
· Bleeding hearts.
· Lady in the Bath.
· Dutchman’s Breeches
· Locks and Keys
While the name “bleeding hearts” may not sound so romantic there is a Dicentra version called “Valentine” from Farmer Gracy. Rather than think of bleeding hearts think that this lovely little shade tolerant plant holds the key to you heart and the heart of the one you love. (Locks and Keys)
You might consider planting it in a container with some contrasting ferns, green and silver such as the Japanese Silver Fern.
Choose a large container for your bleeding hearts as they can become a substantial plant and they will need plenty of space to grow. Consider the species Dicentra formosa in containers because of its more compact size. This species only grows from 9 inches to 1.5 feet tall. Bleeding hearts can grow for as long as four to five years in a large container before needing to be divided and repotted.
This is such a beautiful flower and I love to see it when walking down the slope into the main garden. For more detailed information about this Blazing hearts/bleeding hearts flower you can read more about it in this detailed article:-
Discover the Enchanting Beauty of Dicentra Spectabilis Alba in Your Garden
This shows you how you can combine this lovely plant with others to create a great combination that works for the shade and gives you a variety of colors and shapes through different seasons.
For more about how to companion these beautiful shade loving plants read:-
6 Perfect Companion Plants for Lily of the Valley
The Power of Love and Roses
Valentines’ day is a day about roses. The rose is central to one of my favourite stories. This is called Beauty and the Beast. In my book Awakening the Heart – 21 Ways to Follow Love’s Message (rated 4.7 on Amazon) I include this story as one of the 21 ways.
In myths such as Beauty and the Beast you are both Beauty and the Beast. This is the two sides of everyone’s nature.
Beauty is what the mystic Thomas Merton called The True Self. The Beast is represented by your False Self. The False Self is your identification with the separate sense of the personal. This, in all mythological stories is the magic spell you are under. Only the result is not so magical as it is the primary cause of most individual and collective suffering. In this story you are given the kiss of awakening to your true nature.
Let the Beauty that you are be the work that you do - Rumi
The father of Bella (Beauty) goes on a business trip. He askes his children what they want him to bring back to them. Beauty asks for a rose (symbol of love). The father picks a rose from the garden of the Beast who will not let him go until he promises to send his most beautiful daughter.
To cut this story short. Beauty arrives. The Beast is dying of loneliness and longing to be recognised. Beauty, because she is connected to the heart is not afraid of appearances. She genuinely feels for this creature who is suffering and as he is dying, she kisses him. Thus, he is transformed into the handsome Prince. Such is the power of a love emanating from a heart connected to the higher love.
Be thirsty heart, seek forever without a rest. Let this soundless longing hidden deep inside of you be the source of every word you say. - Rumi
When I and Bee take school children walking in the Cavan Burren as part of the safety notices, I recommend that the children not kiss any frogs because in all likelihood they will turn into handsome Princes, and they are often hard to get rid of.
So, I will be writing a more detailed article about alterative plants that you might consider for Valentines Day which will stay alive and be a reminder to “awake at dawn with a winged heart ready for another day of loving. (Kalib Gibran – The Prophet).
So have a great St. Valentines day and remember that this is about gardening the magnificent that is seeded in the small garden of the heart that you are here to bloom into the magnificence of the True Self.