Prayer Garden at Evangelization Center

BACK TO NATURE  Sunlight streams into the new pollinator garden at St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison. Two environmentally-minded local residents developed plans to create the pollinator garden and also spruce up the Evangelization Center’s prayer garden with new vegetation, both of which were planted this summer. Already, many bees and butterflies have been descending on St. Paul’s, drawn by the plants and flowers in these two spots.

MADISON  If bees and butterflies could speak, they would be all abuzz and aflutter about the latest place for them to get their pollen while they forage for food this fall along the suburban landscape of Madison. You might never guess where these winged insects can find such a great natural bounty: St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Evangelization Center at Bayley-Ellard here.

Already, bees and butterflies have been descending in droves on St. Paul’s, enticed by the colorful, fragrant and nectar-rich flowers and host plants that were planted this summer in two new areas on the evangelization center’s lush property: a 40- by 75-foot bee pollinator garden and a significantly “pollinator flower enhanced” Prayer Garden. The idea for these beautiful gardens sprouted from the minds — and hearts — of Gene Cracovia of St. Vincent Martyr Parish, also Madison, and Pam Lewis, a Certified Rutgers Environmental Steward and resident Madison, who is also an Episcopalian. The gardens not only have been attracting visitors of the human and insect varieties, but also have been helping St. Paul’s sow the seeds of ecology, evangelization and ecumenism.

“Pope Francis’ encyclical [‘Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home’] was the impetus [for the project]. It’s about God and how we can help our environment. One little thing can help,” said Cracovia, a member of St. Vincent’s, who met Lewis after a talk about the Pope’s groundbreaking letter that St. Paul presented in September of last year. “These gardens help protect and sustain the environment.”

Today, the pollinator wildflower meadow attracts pollinators, such as bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, beetles and flies with a dazzling spectrum of 17 varieties of wildflowers, 10 varieties of annuals and seven varieties of perennials. These spectacular wildflowers and host plants for butterflies provide them an ample source of nectar ad pollen in the area. The garden meadow sits on plot of land that once housed the pool for the former Bayley-Ellard High School — once located here — and looks majestic against the backdrop of Roman columns that have existed there since the days of the school. Colorful plants and flowers with equally colorful names populate the plot, including the orange Butterfly Milkweed, the yellow Partridge Pea, the Purple Coneflower, the Red Crimson Clover and blue Arroyo Lupine, said Cracovia, who oversaw the planting and installation of the bee pollinator garden.

Long before the bees and butterflies started arriving in droves, Cracovia and Lewis started talking about pollinator garden projects with Father Paul Manning, St. Paul’s executive director and Diocesan vicar for evangelization, and Allan Wright, St. Paul’s academic dean — this after the center’s “Laudato Si” presentation in September 2015. They all thought that the planting of a low-maintenance pollinator garden would be a “great fit with both the honeybee, native bee and butterfly populations under great stress.” A mile away, the new Madison Community Garden apiary has five honeybee hives, whose bees need more nectar and pollen sources, such as planted here, Cracovia said.

So, Cracovia, a Rutgers master gardener, submitted plans for the pollinator wildflower meadow to St. Paul and to Rutgers University Agriculture Extension Office, which both approved the project in April. Soon after, he and a team of fellow master gardeners from Madison dug into the significant undertaking with great passion — and in consultation with Wright. They conducted tests to make sure that the soil contained the right nutrients for that type of garden, tilled through some rocky and then planted the seeds in May. The “green” garden — which has no chemical pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers — spouted up in only a few weeks — far earlier than the two years that Cracovia had predicted. It can be seen from the offices of St. Paul’s, said Cracovia, who noted that the center financed the entire gardens project, which cost less than $500.

Across from the parking lot from the wildflower meadow stands the newly improved Prayer Garden outside, enclosed by high brick walls at the rear of the center. This second phase of the project involved Lewis and volunteer Barbara Gill of Morris Plains, who removed many of the scruffy-looking vegetation there and planted native perennial flowers, herbs and blueberries, including Goldenrod, New England Astor and Rosemary. The spruced-up garden rings the sacred space, surrounds an existing large cedar cross that towers over the area and contains three existing stone benches and a tree called Basswood or Linden, Lewis said.

“People can come here to this sacred place to pray, meditate and enjoy the peace, beauty and the sacred circle of life of pollinators,” Lewis said.

Also, the creation of the two pollinator gardens at St. Paul’s takes place, as a global phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder has been hastening the disappearance and death of entire honeybee hives, caused by insecticides. Many fruits, vegetables, beans, and alfalfa would not exist without the work of bees and other pollinators, which need non-toxic foraging areas to thrive, Lewis said.

The two new gardens also have enabled St. Paul’s, which has had two presentations on “Laudato Si,” to practice what Pope Francis has been preaching about preserving the environment. In fact, Father Manning said that he Cracovia and Lewis — who continue to look after the two new gardens — also belong to a new ad-hoc committee formed at St. Paul’s to help the Diocese translate the Pontiff’s message about protecting the Earth and our fellow humans into meaningful local action.

“Pope Francis has taught me that God wants us to care for his Earth like he cares for us, with God like care. St. Paul’s can become a shining example,” Lewis said.

The project also turned out to be ecumenical. It brought together non-Catholics, like Lewis, to work with Catholics at St. Paul’s in the name of ecology. Lewis said she believes that “God brought me here.” Her interaction with the evangelization center has led her to attend Masses here, she said.

Looking out over the bee pollinator garden and prayer garden, Father Manning declared, “They look beautiful.”

An equally impressed Wright said, “I’m very excited about the grass roots initiative taken by a few of the folks involved.”

“They would welcome any donations specifically marked for this wild flower garden,” Wright said. “The funds would go to the purchase of seeds to expand the wild flower garden and to purchase a couple of Adirondack chairs and benches so people could reflect amongst the beauty of the meadow.”