Medieval gardens and turfed benches

I recently enjoyed browsing this book.   It has chapters on monastery gardens, abbess gardens (medicinal plants), pilgrimage-related gardens, cook's gardens (edibles), orchard gardens, and alchemist's gardens, and one on "Mary gardens."  Since I was raised Protestant, I have never been taught the extreme degrees of reverence for the Virgin Mary, or known that Mary gardens were a thing.  The book chapter details the history beginning in an ecumenical council in 431 at Ephesus and the subsequent rise of a "cult of Mary."  By the late medieval period there was an outpouring of relevant music, literature, and art, including garden design.  I was amazed by how many common garden plants were not only dedicated to Mary, but named after her.  The "lady" in the many plants named "lady-x" refers to the Virgin Mary. Here is a partial list of plants incorporated in a Mary garden:

"Eyes of Mary" is one common name for forget-me-nots.

Soapwort (Bouncing Bett) is also known as Lady-by-the-gate

The wooly mullein is also "Lady's candle."

English Primrose = Lady's Frills

Sweet Violet = Lady's Modesty

Ground Ivy = Madonna's Herb

Maidenhair Fern = Maria's Hair

Bachelor's Button = Mary's Crown

Meadowsweet = Mary's Girdle

Marigold = Mary's Gold

Bleeding Heart - Mary's Heart

Lungwort = Virgin Mary's Tears

Spearmint = Menthe de Notre Dame

Iris = Mary's Sword

Cowslip = Mary's Tears

Bedstraw = Lady's Tresses

Solomon's Seal = Lady's Seal

Pansy = Our Lady's Delight

honeysuckle = Lady's Fingers

Hweet Woodruff = Lady's Lace

Columbine = Our Lady's Shoes

Lily-of-the-Vally = Our Lady's Tears

And many more.  However "Rosemary" is not a corruption of "Rose of Mary", but of the Latin ros marinus ("dew of the sea").

One more interesting item from the book.  Herb gardens typically incorporate benches, some of which in medieval times were "turfed":

"The turfed seat drained quickly after rain and provided the sensation of sitting on a dry and fragrant meadow.  It consisted of a raised bench seat with the sides constructed of stoneor brick or, less permanently, wattle, almost filled with compacted stone and rubble to provide good drainage and topped with a layer of soil.  The seat was then turfed with soft fine grass or fragrant creeping herbs, such as apple-scented chamomole and thymes, to form a dense mat."

What a great idea.  I've been unable to find a suitable photo of a turfed bench other a few partially depicted in stained glass windows.

Here's the Wikipedia page on medieval gardens.