"You Pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. This is how prayer works
— Pope Francis

St. Paul VI Parish; St. Mary Church Garden of Eden (2023)

Debuting the 2023 planting plan for The Garden of Eden. If any parishioners are interested in helping tend our charity food bank garden, please contact me at gardenministry@aol.com. 

Click the image on the right to open it larger.

An Apostle's Lenten Walk

​Please note in the text that many of the plants have biblical themed and Mary themed common names. 
 
Mass attendees should also notice that some of the plants have blue and white colors…Mary colors. 

​Located on the East side of St. Mary Church
"Gardening is a medicine that needs no prescription and has no limit on dosage."
​-Author Unknown. 
 
You are invited to join the St. Paul VI Garden Ministry at the St. Mary campus. We tend the St. Mary Church campus flower and vegetable gardens. Please contact Salle at gardenministry@aol.com to see how you can help. We have jobs ranging from 5 minutes once a week to as much time as you want to share with us. 
"The St. Mary Campus of the St. Paul VI Parish is officially designated a Monarch Way Station Garden through The University of Kansas Monarch Watch organization. This means our gardens have both host plants (Milkweed) and pollinator plants (many varieties of flowering perennials) to provide both egg laying plant material and nectar for Monarch butterflies." Monarch butterflies are officially listed as "endangered", so it is up to individual gardens to provide habitat for migrating Monarch butterflies and caterpillars. 

Did you know...

Many plants are named for Mary, Our Lady. The St. Mary campus of St. Paul VI Parish has 36 shrubs, perennial plants and annual plants that have "Mary" names. For instance, roses and lilies are the most recognized emblems of Our Lady. We also have other plants on our campus that have biblical-related names, such as Solomon's Seal. "

Did you know that the St. Mary Garden Ministry gives a second life to all of the plants used at the St. Mary Church altar? Most of the plants can be installed in our outdoor garden beds, even Easter Lilies, where they bloom for many seasons to come. Even if we cannot re-use the plant, we use its potting soil for seed starting projects and then compost the plant. Finally, we first re-use and then recycle the plastic pots that held the altar potted plants. 
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​Here is an article about our Garden located at the St. Mary campus, as shared by Sallie Boge, our head gardener.

Gardening for the Hungry

Garden Ministry in the Winter

The Garden Ministry decorates at least 8 outdoor St. Mary Church, St. Mary rectory and St. Paul IV parish offices planters with greens and other festive supplies for the Christmas season. We decorate around the time of Thanksgiving in time for the start of Advent. Email Sallie at gardenministry@aol.com to get involved.

Garden Ministry in the Spring and Summer

"A flower is a smile from Heaven"
​-Author unknown.​