Hold onto your hats, dear gardeners—America has a new Scripture garden, which will whisk you away with the botanical treasures of the land of the Bible. Opened late last fall, the Plants of the Bible Conservatory at the Creation Museum and Botanical Gardens is a winsome quartet of state-of-the-art glass structures to grow and display Biblical plants, connecting us to God and His Word.
Located southeast of Cincinnati in Petersburg, KY, the Creation Museum is cold hardiness zone 6, requiring shelter from winter temperatures to ensure the enduring success of the Scripture plantings. I had the great delight of seeing everything from dwarf myrtles to upright date palms on a recent visit to this glass gem, forming a budding alliance with the faithful overseers of the project, horticulturists Tim Schmitt and Dale Spada.
Answers in Genesis, the ministry that owns and operates this one-of-a-kind attraction, has made a significant investment in advancing the knowledge and study of plants of the Bible. Hallelujah! Through their devotion, generations to come will be able to “see for yourselves” the many references in God’s Word to seed, foliage, form, and scent that helps to understand the wisdom of the Lord and so many things about Him. Tucked into the forested hills of Kentucky, the Conservatory is truly a hidden treasure awaiting your discovery.
You have heard what I said; now consider it and admit the truth of what I have stated. From now on I will reveal new things, hidden things of which you have not been aware. Isaiah 48:6 NCB
The series of greenhouses take you on a foursquare journey through the different climates of the Holy Land—it’s not all desert, after all—and the staggered layout creates a central, open-air courtyard where edible annuals can be cultivated during the summer. See my favorite snapshots below and hopefully you will capture your own pictures someday.
Date Palm Greeting
The first glass house welcomes with a triumphal entry, planted with three Judean palm trees, Phoenix dactylifera. Date palm’s dramatic form makes a showy statement, greeting with their graceful fronds overhead and drawing visitors into the space.
Remember date palms stand like a summons in the desert, alerting travelers to available water and shady reprieve, a fun, poetic parallel for calling all to the plant collection journey ahead. The Lord used a planting of these trees to refresh the Israelites after they were delivered from Egypt.
Then they came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy date palms, and they camped there beside the waters. Exodus 15:27 NASB
Additionally, colorful, seasonal annuals decorate the garden beds and infill among Scriptural species. ‘Purple majesty’ ornamental millet plants caught my eye, punctuating the perimeter plantings.
Finding Figs
Moving into the second structure, visitors find plant specimens from the subtropical regions of the Holy Land. This greenhouse will someday be a forest of fanciful fruit and spice trees, as the saplings of carob, etrog or citron, fig, pistachio, and cinnamon grow up.
Then I spied the most prized: sycomore fig, Ficus sycomorus. I say “most prized,” which is an ironic description because in ancient times this fig was considered inferior to the common fig, Ficus carica. I only know of one other example growing in America, however, at the L.A. Arboretum. Florida, do you have one? What a tremendous gift to our nation to plant this unique tree.
This is the tree Zacchaeus climbed to see Jesus—
And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way. Luke 19:3-4 KJV
A mature tree sprouts fig fruit directly from the trunk and main branches in clumps; potentially Zacchaeus had very gooey feet when he was called by his Savior!
Mediterranean Mania
Next stop: Mediterranean climate, with so many familiar plant-friends. This third glass house shelters olive trees, bay laurel, myrtle, pomegranates, along with perennial herbs like mint, wormwood, and hyssop. A water course weaves its way through the garden beds to create a perfect river edge for tall papyrus. It is hard to pick a favorite from this house!
Yet I noticed the petite, mounding rockrose among this plant mania, Cistus creticus. Rockrose is a common name for many similarly formed, water-wise plants, including a Texas native, Pavonia lasiopetala. The Biblical mention most-likely refers to plants in the Cistus genus…actually, the plant isn’t mentioned, but the resin from its branches and leaves are referenced, the sticky substance valued for its use in making perfumes.
Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and take them down to the man as a gift—some balsam and some honey, aromatic gum and resin, pistachios and almonds. Genesis 43:11 HCSB
This Cretan rockrose is not showing its spring bloom of pink petaled flowers, which I would love to see and so would the bees! Though a background botanical in the Scriptures, it could have been a good foraging supply to the buzzing pollinators and grazing livestock: I love to count it among the “milk and honey” plants.
So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey Exodus 3:8 NIV
Crown of Thorns
The fourth room of the conservatory tour brings visitors to the desert, the semi-arid climate mainly at the south end of Israel. Many of the desert-abiding plants are thorny, matching the searing temperatures they endure to the fate of thorns, as David wrote it:
But all the wicked are like thorns raked aside; they can never be picked up by hand. The man who touches them must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear. They will be completely burned up on the spot. 2 Samuel 23:7 HCSB
With this thorny climate being the end of the tour, the journey through the conservatory ends with the crown of thorns as told in Matthew:
They twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and placed a reed in His right hand. And they knelt down before Him and mocked Him: “Hail, King of the Jews!” Matthew 27:29 HCSB
A special planter to signify the horrible encircling of the Savior’s head anchors the space. Acacia tree, Acacia farnesiana, fills the planter to represent the thornbush involved in the Savior’s mocking, though other possible species are noted.
As a solemn measure of beauty, crown of thorns plant, Euphorbia milii, surrounds the planter, hedge-style. Though this is not a native plant to Israel, its vicious, thorny branches and red, droplet-like flowers seem to signify what Christ endured, accentuating the suffering Jesus embraced for us.
The desert is a sacred contrast to the lush garden God planted in Eden, and I am forever moved at how the landscapes seem to tell God’s story to us.
He answered, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out!” Luke 19:40 HCSB
Of course, Jesus overcame this torturous death, Hosanna! The exit of the conservatory brings visitors back around to the victorious palm trees to complete the journey.
I looked again. I saw a huge crowd, too huge to count. Everyone was there—all nations and tribes, all races and languages. And they were standing, dressed in white robes and waving palm branches, standing before the Throne and the Lamb and heartily singing: Salvation to our God on his Throne! Salvation to the Lamb! Revelation 7:9-10 The Message
Grow Your Own Plants of the Bible
One last space is created by the four glasshouses: remember an open-air courtyard holds the heart of the conservatory structure. In raised beds and containers places around the periphery, the Bible’s edibles are growing and overflowing!
Grapevines, melons, and cucumbers are spilling out with all the vivacity vines are known for. The Israelites wandering the Sinai would be ecstatic to see these.
We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. Numbers 11:5 NIV
And Jesus’s Words remind us that this is the vitality-infusion that He embodies.
I am the true vine, and my Father is the Gardener. John 15:1 NIV
Though dormant in the wintertime, the courtyard shows how even a few plants from the pages of the Bible can be grown and enjoyed in our summer gardens, and bring His Words close to us, for our own working hands.
Visit Plants of the Bible Conservatory
A HUGE thank you to Tim Schmitt, Vice President of Horticulture, Facilities, Site Development and Zoo Operations and Dale Spada, Botanical Gardens Curator, Attractions Design for their time and heart to show me the gardens and share the stories around this tremendous project.
Now it’s your turn, dear gardener, to see for yourself!
He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.” Luke 21:29-31 NIV
Learn more about the Creation Museum and Botanical Gardens at www.creationmuseum.org. The Museum, Gardens, and Conservatory are included in one admission price, and a combined pass is available to see nearby Noah’s Ark Encounter
Do you love connecting your garden work to time with God? Then you will love my most recent book, My Father is the Gardener, Devotions in Botany and Gardening of the Bible
Find most of the plants mentioned here in the Garden in Delight Plant Guide for ideas on growing them yourself
The A-to-Z Primer of Plants from God’s Word is full of more sing-song inspiration from many of the plants appearing here – read D is for Date Palm, F is for Fig Tree, R is for Rockrose, and T is for Thistles and Thorns
Photo Credits: ©Shelley S. Cramm
HCSB denotes Scripture quotations taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
KJV denotes Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, King James Version published in 1611, authorized by King James I of England, which is public domain in the United States.
NASB denotes Scripture quotations taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
NCB denotes Scripture taken from the SAINT JOSEPH NEW CATHOLIC BIBLE® Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
NIV denotes Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®
The Message denotes Scripture quotations taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries.
