UD library to feature indoor ‘living garden’ exhibit

The University of Dayton’s library will host an indoor living garden containing several of the flowers named for the Virgin Mary.

The University of Dayton’s library will host an indoor living garden containing several of the flowers named for the Virgin Mary.

For the first time, the University of Dayton’s library will host an indoor living garden, called Mary’s Garden, from Saturday through May 10.

The garden will be filled with hundreds of flowers and plants named in medieval times as symbols for the Virgin Mary, according to the university. The garden also includes paintings of flowers by area artist Holly Schapker and history on Mary gardens from the personal collection of the movement’s founder, John S. Stokes Jr.

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The exhibit is free and open to the public inside the Roesch Library and an opening event will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, according to the university.

The garden in the library will change four times during the exhibit to reflect spring, summer, winter and fall. A pamphlet will help visitors take a self-guided tour through the garden.

It is made possible through a partnership with Grunder Landscaping, owned by UD alumnus Marty Grunder.

“It is really a unique approach to library exhibits,” said Sarah Cahalan, director of the University’s Marian Library, which houses the largest collection in the world of printed materials and artifacts on Mary, mother of Christ. “This is an opportunity for everyone to think about how gardening can play a role in their lives and to reflect on the spirituality of our interactions with nature.”

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