*Galion bows head for a moment of silence*

Do you know what season this was taken? It appears to be fall or even English winter, since there are few flowers blooming. And how old is the pic? None of the plants suggest great growth from the year of Tolkien's death, so I assume that these are recent plantings.

Gandalf the Grey,

There is, alas, not much story to be found in the plantings, save for the last two. Without the blooms, it is not possible to say that the plantings represent the Medieval closed garden of wild flowers interspersed with white madonna lilies (for the Virgin), red roses (for Divine love), purple irises (for Jesus' royal descent from the House of David), or cherries (for the joys of Heaven).

There also does not appear to be the traditional perennials of an English country garden, such as foxgloves, campanulas, delphiniums, columbines, etc. (Such as might fit the Shire.) The plantings could simply represent someone's effort to provide some green growth, or possibly a private or personal meaning known to the Tolkien family.

Here goes, from the NW corner to the SE corner of the grave. (The stonework is, I think, white granite, not marble; geology buffs could probably say more precisely than I.)

Left is probably a small, unpruned evergreen shrub called boxwood, used extensively in Europe for small hedges and topiary. Tolkien mentions these shrubs in LOTR. Beneath it is likely the English ivy Helix Hedera 'Glacier', with the two-toned leaves of green and cream.

The red blob is not distinct enough for identification. It could possibly a rose (judging from the leaf shape), or perhaps bee-balm or masterwort, but the leaves are wrong for these flowers.

The terracotta pot appears to have a foliage plant, not the right leaf shape for pulmonaria, maybe barrenwort. There is clearly a rose bush to the right of this pot. The little spot of pink at the base of this rose is not clearly decipherable, but it might be a shooting star (dodecathion) from its position and height, but the season isn't right. Ditto for the possibility of primrose.

The shrub farther left of the rose might be another boxwood, in the lighter shade of green, but again I can't clearly tell from the leaf shape alone.

The only interesting tale which could be told is by the two silver plants in the front: artemesia, or wormwood (sage), traditionally known for its bitterness and used in making absinthe and vermouth. Also known unromantically for treating worms and stomach disorders.

The plants are the variety known as Southern wormwood I think, also known as "Old Man", "the lovers' plant," "lad's love," and "maid's ruin". Its leaves were once, long ago, used in aphrodisiacs and love potions. Perhaps this is why two of these plants adorn the grave.

I would be interested if anyone else could offer any other suggestions about plant identification. I'm a North American gardener (zone 6), and am not familiar with English gardening, except for the amazing gardens at Hadspen and Beth Chatto's gardens. And I'm not at all interested in the Chelsea Flower Show.

Bethberry

The viola is a good call. I could make out colour but not much else. The leaf looks almost variegated in cream and green, although I have seen violas with purple-tinged leaves.

PS. I've edited my earlier post after checking the Hidecote variety of lavender.

Many thanks for answering my query regarding the plants. I will admit up front that I am incredibly ignorant about flowers and the like, and thus admire and appreciate your knowledge the more.