The newly installed flower bed next to Baxter Hall.

Down by the sidewalk, the passionflower vine is growing by leaps and bounds!

As I was leaving one afternoon, a young man and an older couple stood talking, in front of the passionflower vine. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to brag about our garden, I introduced myself. Turns out, the younger man knows our Interim Rector, Michele Morgan from seminary (now has a church in Northern Virginia), as does his wife who's at St. Alban's School.

I told him the original plants had been pulled out by a parishioner who hated them and he understood: in the south and Latin American countries, the vine is considered an invasive. But -- shades of St. Patrick -- priests used the flower to offer a bit of Christian education.

The lovely Passionflower has Biblical symbolism.

If you look carefully, you will see a circlet of filaments...that is the crown of thorns. There are 5 anthers (had to look that up) that represent the 5 wounds; the 3 stigmas represent the Trinity. Wikipedia reports the 10 petals represent the faithful apostles (poor Peter is labeled the 'denier' and doesn't get a petal; neither does Judas) and the tendrils of the vine represent the whips used on Christ. Now we know how it got its name (though I do like the old German a bit better: Muttergottes-Stern: Mother-of-God's Star.) You can also make tea from some part of the vine (look that one up, too).

Our neighbor to the east, Phil Moeller, kindly mulched the plants so the soil will stay in place.

 

This is part of an anchor used to tie horse reins in the early days of St. Mark's.

 

Then there's this odd fellow we dug up as the vine was planted. Parishioner Ben Schabily identified it as the concrete remnants of an anchor for tying up your horse's reins when you came to church by horse and buggy. 1800's, remember?

It's staying.