Way of the Cross Park
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The Way of The Cross Park, located immediately behind the church, is open during daylight hours for prayer and meditation. Stations of the Cross booklets are available in the parish office for both adults and children. Parishioners may reserve the picnic area adjacent to the church by calling the parish office. |
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Each Station of the Cross is spread throughout the park, with the pond in the center. |
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The pond fountain not only adds to the park's beauty, but provides aeration for the pond's inhabitants. |
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Garden specimen: Turk's Cap. This inconspicuous beauty is native to this region. Rarely used as a specimen plant here, this member of the Hibiscus family deserves a place in all Southern gardens. This plant is a perennial with large notched leaves. The flowers resemble a delicate rosebud, with tightly furled petals. The stamens and pistils protude above the petals enticing hummingbirds, butterflies and moths to come and feed. Other birds are attracted to the plant's small red fruits that resemble cherries. Turk's Cap can be found at stations 7 and 11. |
| Garden resident: Oreochromis Tilapia. This species was recently stocked to control algae growth in the pond. "Tilapia" is the generic name of a group of cichlids endemic to Africa. They are often referred to as "Saint Peter's fish" in reference to Biblical passages about the fish fed to the multitudes. |
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Garden specimen: Evergreen Hydrangea. This plant is in the Hydrangea family and very similar except that it is evergreen. It has starry blue flowers and later long lasting blue capsular fruits. It is listed as one of fifty fundamental Chinese herbs. It is used in several ways, but the most interesting fact is that the plant is 26 times more powerful than quinine in the treatment of malaria. |
| Garden resident: Island Glass Lizard. It's not a snake, just a lizard. A few of these legless lizards have been found in the garden lately. These lizards are different from snakes in that they have moveable eyelids, external ear openings, and inflexible jaws. Glass lizards forage by day and feed mostly on insects, spiders, and other invertebrates. These lizards are found along the coast of SC and in coastal and southern Georgia. Glass lizards earn their name from a defensive mechanism used when attacked by a predator. Their tails will "shatter" in several pieces in order to escape. Up the 2/3 of their body length is detachable tail. In less than a year, the lizard will grow an entire new tail. |
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Garden specimen: The Glory-blower or Bleeding Heart Vine can be found at Station 4. It is a showstopper flower in bloom in the late summer. This twining evergreen shrub from tropical West Africa is worth bearing the heat to see. From July through October the flowers are in clusters and have a white calyx and red corolla. It looks a bit like Christmas in the dog days of Summer. |
