Life in the Garden

Matters of Life and Death

memorial stones

Easy Garden Memorial- Purple Coneflower

If you are looking for an easy low maintenance planting for a grave site or memorial garden,  a flower that comes to mind is the Purple Coneflower. A personal favorite for it’s wild beauty and the healing properties of Echinacea.   Hearty and drought resistant, they keep reseeding  and come back every year. The genus name “echino” translates in Greek to hedgehog.

purple coneflower
Photo by: Moxfyre

Other memorial garden ideas:

Early spring flowers: Bleeding Hearts

Living memorial: Weeping Cherry Tree

The appearance of  snowdrops in early spring is a stirring promise of renewal.

Butterfly bush

Blue hydrangeas

August birth flower: Gladiolus

Assorted memorial garden trees and bushes.

Personalized memorial stones

memorial stone

Shooting Star Memorial Jewelry: Smile and Wave Goodbye

Looking to the heavens at night, one cannot help gaze at the endless number of stars. It’s comforting and healing to feel that those stars are somehow a symbol or sign that a loved one is looking back or watching over us. Those stars are also a symbol of divine guidance. A five-pointed star represents the Star of Bethlehem, while a six-pointed star represents creation. Inspired by shooting stars, we’ve put together a collection of star themed urns and memorial ideas.

gold star urn necklace

Because of this belief, shooting star memorial keepsakes are popular options for those looking to find a meaning behind a person’s death. Inspired by the mystical sight of a shooting star, mourners can select from star urn necklaces that are discreet enough to wear for any occasion, yet special enough to have on every day.

silver star urn necklace

Another memorial keepsake along the lines of stars and shooting stars is garden stones. These all-weather stones can pretty enough to put indoors and sturdy enough to place in a garden outdoors. One possible verse that can come with this type of stone is “Perhaps the stars in the sky are loved ones letting us know they are near by guiding us through the night.”

Stars in the Sky Memorial StoneFinally, full-size urns and keepsake urns are also available for your loved one’s cremated remains.

Urn Garden Cremation Urns

Scattering Methods for Ashes

There are many ways that scattering methods can be used to create a personalized ceremony. For families that choose scattering as a method of dispersing ashes, many still like to have a small portion of the ashes or a lock of hair incorporated into a small memorial such as a piece of cremation jewelry or keepsake urn . Others prefer creating a memorial that may include a stepping stone , garden plaque, statuary, or a garden sculpture to honor their loved one. Garden stones can also be used indoors or out, and all create loving touches in your sacred space. Whatever your decision, this is a personal choice that is meant to honor and represent your passed loved one as well as heal, restore, and remember the time and life that your loved one spent on Earth.

cremation urns

Ashes in the Ink

Back in the day, cutting edge technology allowed our families to pose with the dear departed and record the moment for posterity.

memento mori

That idea faded and seems creepy now, but what about the background noise I heard this weekend? Snippets of  reality tv with the Jackson Family Show trying to coordinate a very public gold- plated memorial service.

Or the bit of a tattoo road show, featuring a gentleman who mixed a trace of his loved one’s ashes into the ink and had a portrait style memorial tattoo on his chest.

At the quieter end of the spectrum, one of our clients does design work in a memorial garden at a hospital in upstate New York, had this good word to say about our personalized river rock garden stone.

river rock memorial stone

“Both the stone itself and the workmanship — is lovely and has become the new standard in our Memorial Gardens.”