Biblical Botany
Through the ages, man has looked to nature as an expression of God's handiwork and a celebration of the divine. So it comes as no surprise that some gardeners choose to express their faith by getting their hands dirty.
That's what members of the Herbal Thymes Club did when they installed a biblical garden on the grounds of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sarver.
When the club first began meeting in the church social hall, members offered to install a biblical garden on church grounds as a token of appreciation, said club past president Kay Warheit of Penn Township. In 2003, the garden became a reality, and it now has more than 30 plants mentioned directly in the Bible or having a biblical reference, she said.
The garden is arranged in three circles representing the Holy Trinity. The garden's brick borders are each rimmed by a miniature boxwood hedge and contain a variety of herbs, flowers and grasses. The club raised several thousand dollars for the purchase of materials, but labor was donated.
Inspiration for the garden came, not only from above, but also from a more earthly source: the biblical garden at Rodef Shalom Temple in Pittsburgh. Club members toured the garden and adapted ideas to their local project.
"It's almost like going to the Civic Arena for a hockey game, and going home to your little ice pond," Warheit said. "The garden is like that. But I mean, we love our garden here and we're proud of it."
"We had no idea how beautiful this thing was going to be," said the Rev. Emery Barnett, pastor at St. Paul's. "We had some pictures in our mind but none as grand as what we have.
"We've had many a Bible study in that setting."
Barnett said the vacation Bible even utilized a hedge of tall grass to tell the story of Moses by placing a baby doll in a basket in the grass.
Having the garden on church grounds enhances the experience for worshippers, he added.
"They get to see, visualize and feel what is described in the scriptures. To touch, feel, smell and — with many of the herbs — also to taste," he said.
"But only under (club members') supervision because I don't know what you can eat. I leave it up to them to teach."
In planning the garden, the club took a practical approach.
"In the biblical garden in Pittsburgh, they have plants which have to be brought in, like palms," Warheit said. "But we have to be realistic, so we chose plants that will grow in this part of the country."
Because of that planning, garden maintenance is usually limited to weeding, she added.
Warheit said the club relied heavily on the handbook, "A Guide to the Rodef Shalom Biblical Botanical Garden," by Irene Jacob.
Each of the plants included in the Herbal Thymes garden has a marker containing the plant's common name, Latin name, and also the Bible verse from which it comes. A few plants, Warheit said, are included in the garden even though they have no corresponding biblical passage.
"Costmary, for instance, is not in the Bible, but it was used as a colonial bookmark," she said. "Women would dry it and put it in the pages of their Bibles because during long sermons, they could take it out and chew on it to stay awake. It has a pleasant minty taste."According to Barb Bishop of Butler, biblical gardening has become popular. A certified master gardener, Bishop speaks frequently on incorporating plants from the arid Holy Land into a Pennsylvania backyard.Seeing biblical gardening as a way of reaching a different audience than the typical home vegetable gardener, Bishop gave her first talk to a group at her own church, Hill United Presbyterian Church in Butler. As word spread, she began to speak more frequently around the area and as far away as Clarion.For the average home gardener who would like to include some plants from the Bible, Bishop suggests herbs."I think I would start out with some of the herbs that are mentioned in the Bible," she said. "They are fairly easy to grow for the average home gardener." Her top suggestions include mint, dill, cumin and coriander. She said hyssop is also an easy plant to grow, although not as useful.Some of the plants, she notes, "are a little different, but the ones we have that will grow in this area are from the same family."She cautioned that mint should be grown in a pot rather than in the open landscape, because "it spreads voraciously."Bishop, who has researched over 130 different biblical plants, says a number of flowers have been misidentified over centuries of Bible translations."Botanists didn't get into this subject until very late," she said. "Most people use the King James version, and it was translated well before botanists ever thought to think of what would have been growing in Palestine at the time."An example, she says, are references to roses."When you see the word rose in the Bible, it means a bulb plant of some sort," Bishop said."When Rose of Sharon is listed, it's not the plant we think of, the shrub. It's like a red tulip."She also notes a passage in Isaiah stating that the desert will blossom like a rose."Now there are some translations that say the desert will blossom like a crocus. And it would be the saffron crocus, not the spring crocus that we are used to. It would be larger, and fall-blooming," she said.When asked to pick a favorite plant, Barnett said he enjoys the tall bamboo grass, "because it is so impressive. When it starts growing, people think it's corn and ask 'why do you have corn growing there?' And that opens the conversation about what this is really."The Herbal Thymes Club meets at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 409 Sarver Road, Sarver, on the last Wednesday of the month.Information about the Rodef Shalom Biblical Botanical Garden in Pittsburgh is available at www.biblicalgardenpittsburgh.org.
