Below you can find a message from the Rev. Pamela. These are sent out most Fridays in our newsletter and updated here.

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Message from the Rev. Pamela from September 13, 2024:

Dear Ones,

As you know, during this year’s Season of Creation we are experimenting with changes in our liturgy, for example incorporating new prayers and readings approved by the Episcopal Church, as well as service music appropriate for the season. Last week, Carole Hom, who heads up our Flower Guild, created an arrangement of altar flowers that were inspired by the Season of Creation, making use of locally sourced materials with special meanings above and beyond their aesthetic appeal.

All of the individuals who create our altar flower arrangements are so talented, and each one brings a special vision and flair to their ministry; I look forward every Sunday to seeing what new, beautiful creation awaits me when I enter the nave. I hope you enjoy this “behind the scenes” peek into Carole’s process. 

Blessings,

Pamela+

Flowers for the Season of Creation

What do redwood branches, rose hips, and leaves of a Victorian parlor plant have in common? They all formed part of the altar flower arrangement on Sunday, September 8th. They symbolized some of California’s botanical diversity from the fog belt, through foothill chaparral, to the Great Valley. In the arrangement, Coast redwoods and California sword fern represented the fog belt. For chaparral regions, we used manzanita, California wild rose, buckwheat, Catalina cherry, showy milkweed, and California fuchsia. And wetlands in the Great Valley once were covered by a giant sedge called tule.

All these plants play an important role in natural landscapes: They provide shelter or food or help to maintain the ecosystem in which they grow. And except for redwoods, these plants thrive in Davis gardens. In fact, the Davis Cemetery includes a flourishing stand of showy milkweed – an important host plant for monarch butterflies – near the entrance on 8th Street, and the grounds of St. Martin’s include most of the plants in the arrangement.

What about the Victorian parlor plant? It was Aspidistra, which grows well in shady gardens.