We are the only Garden devoted to the study of horticulture and agriculture of the ancient Near East and have sought to make this knowledge widely accessible through the creation of a special series of plantings and programs each year. During each summer we emphasize a different aspect of ancient life and introduce twenty to thirty new plants along with educational displays, literature, and lectures by specialists.
The Garden is beginning its twentieth-seventh season; it combines beauty, education, meditation and spiritual sustenance for thousands of visitors during each summer season. As one of only three biblical botanical gardens in North America, it has received many international visitors, study groups from universities,, churches, and synagogues as well as those interested in establishing a similar garden.
The Garden displays more than 100 temperate and tropical plants grown in ancient Israel in a setting reminiscent of the land of Israel. The plants are displayed in a setting reminiscent of the Holy Land with a cascading waterfall, a small desert, a bubbling stream, the Jordan, which meanders through the garden from Lake Kineret to the Dead Sea. The biblical plant world was varied because of the topography.
As two thirds of the plants are Mediterranean or tropical, they must be brought in before the earliest frost and not placed into the garden again till all such danger has past. For this reason our season is limited to the three summer months. This means that several truck loads of plants must be carefully tended during the long winter months.
The Garden respects the love of the Bible which people throughout the world have displayed by naming plants for biblical figures. Although these plants were not grown in ancient Israel, we have planted a selection of them – specially labeled – to demonstrate this attachment to the Bible.