Lifestyle Home Joanna Gaines Helped a Friend Through Infertility Struggles and Got a Sweet Tribute in Return How the HGTV star's enviable rose garden played an unlikely role in her friend's family troubles By Mackenzie Schmidt Mackenzie Schmidt Mackenzie Schmidt is the Home and Travel Editor for PEOPLE. She's worked at PEOPLE for over five years as a writer and editor on the Lifestyle team. People Editorial Guidelines Published on June 28, 2018 04:45 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Joanna Gaines’ garden is much more to her than pretty flowers and a place for the family chickens. The Fixer Upper star, 40, who just welcomed her fifth child with husband Chip, 43, recounts the emotional story behind one plant in particular, in an interview with KMOV. “A couple of years ago a friend gifted me with a rose bush, and she was actually dealing with infertility at the time,” Joanna recalls. “She said, ‘I know you have a garden. I’m going to give you this rose bush. Can you pray for me every time you see this?'” The Joanna Gaines Guide to Living Your Best Life She promised she would do just that, and, she says, the habit made her think of her “favorite spot on the farm” differently too. “That kind of started this whole idea of creating a space where, when I walk into it, I’m reminded of the people that I love and the people I need to pray for in my own life,” she explains. “It sounds so cliché to say stop and smell the roses, but it’s important for me [with] the schedule that we have and the busy life, just walking in there, just taking a step and enjoying the simple things.” Her friend came back to Waco for a visit recently, having welcomed a baby girl. Her name? “Jovie Rose,” says Joanna. “Jovi is now almost eleven months old.” WATCH THIS: Chip and Joanna Gaines Welcome Son: ‘The Gaines Crew Is Now 1 Stronger!’ The pair went for a walk in Joanna’s rose garden, which is featured in the summer issue of her magazine, Magnolia Journal, now features “every variety” of the flower. “It was just a precious moment to see how much this bush has grown, and there were the most beautiful roses all over it, but then to also see this answered prayer on the other side of it. It just reminded me that this is definitely a very special thing for me in my own life, but also a way that, in some way, I can connect with those I love most,” says Joanna. The Magnolia Journal Every Sweet Family Moment Chip and Joanna Gaines Have Shared of Their Life at Home in Waco Despite not being a fan of the flower at first — “I honestly thought they were really hard to grow so I always just kind of stayed away,” she says — they’re now one of the most meaningful. She explains, “There is something about a rose that’s classic, that’s timeless, but also reminds you to just stop, slow down and enjoy the beautiful things that are around you.” Read more about Joanna’s roses in the Summer issue of Magnolia Journal, out now.