The Rose Garden began as a circular patch of “sacred Corn” in 2018. The first ISHA garden included a circle of Native American “sacred corn”. A sevadar, who was a grandmother, received a packet of 1,000-year-old corn seeds from a Native American grandmother who lived in Tennessee. Directions for planting these corn seeds were that the corn should not be planted in straight rows. These directions also said this seed corn could only be passed from one grandmother to another grandmother. Since the area where the ISHA garden was once home to Native Americans, the sevadars, who planted the first garden, decided to plant the “sacred corn” seeds instead of the usual sweet corn seeds.
A circle was drawn in the soil using a center post with a string. To honor the Native American source of these seeds, we decided to mark the four directions on the circle by planting four corn seeds at each spot – using a compass to determine the directions. The remaining seeds were planted in the middle of the circle and spaced evenly around the outside circle.
Before planting, each of the sevadars who were present stepped into the circle and gave an offering of tobacco in appreciation to Mother Earth for supporting the entire garden. As the corn grew, several sevadars enjoyed sitting in the special, peaceful atmosphere in the center of the circle.
By fall, it was obvious that this variety of corn needed a longer growing season than in Northern Wisconsin. Very few of the ears of corn matured enough to use for eating or for saving seeds.
Therefore, in the following year, the group decided to keep the circle and plant rose bushes in each of the four directions instead of the corn. The color of each rose was chosen to reflect the season. The spring rose is a soft pink color. The summer rose is a vibrant red color. The fall rose is multicolored, and the winter rose is a deep rose color.
In 2020, several sevadars added a stone border to clearly mark the circle surrounding the rose garden. Several varieties of flowers were planted in the circle to add constant color throughout the growing season.
In 2024, a 12-foot cedar post wrapped in copper wire was added to the rose garden. This post is part of a larger plan that uses electromagnetic energy to support plant growth throughout the ISHA garden. In 2025, a semi-climbing rose was planted in the middle of the rose garden.
Today, the rose garden continues to provide beauty, color, and a sense of peace to the larger ISHA garden.
