“Plants of the Bible” Arrive at Creation Museum Conservatory, Kentucky’s Largest

At the Creation Museum, we’re building a complex of four glass greenhouses and a courtyard that will house a special collection of plants of the Bible. It will be a self-guided walkthrough, finishing at a plant with many thorns that could have been the variety used to construct the crown of thorns placed on Jesus’ head during the trial preceding his crucifixion. This plant will be featured as part of a special presentation of the gospel as a climax of the tour.

There will also be a collection of palms in the tropical greenhouse, the largest of the four structures (we will also have a subtropical, a Mediterranean, and an arid greenhouse). Each greenhouse is climate-controlled, and one will include a water feature.

Now in the tropical house, there will also be a special collection of Australian flora—and last week, my wife and I planted the first of the many Australian plants that will be featured.

Mally and I were given what looked like a small stick 22 years ago (in 2002). It was about two feet high and about half the thickness of one’s little finger. It was an Australian bottle tree. My wife nurtured this until 2016, when we gave it to our attractions horticultural department. This tree was placed in the queue line gardens at the Ark Encounter each spring through early fall, and then put back in one of our heated greenhouses for the winter.

Our horticultural department took great care of this tree and had a special ceremony on Wednesday for my wife and me to ceremonially plant this tree as the first plant in the conservatory and as the beginning of the Australian plant exhibit. Six (of 18) of our grandchildren were present for this special time. We also planted a plumeria, which we call frangipani in Australia.

The first photo is of this bottle tree when we gave it to our horticultural department in 2016. You can see how much this tree has grown and is actually starting to look like a bottle tree now. I believe people will love to see it along with the other Aussie plants in this special exhibit.

Now, many of you will have heard of the famous American Gothic painting done in 1930 by Grant Wood. It depicts a man and a woman (a farmer and his daughter) standing in front of a house. Well, while Mally and I were planting our bottle tree, our photographers thought they would have a bit of fun. So they handed me a pitchfork and told the both of us to look serious. I guess it’s our take (sort of) on the American Gothic painting (I know Mally is not my daughter, but she looks young enough to be!) Just a bit of lighthearted fun we thought you’d enjoy.

Keep watch for when the conservatory will open later this year. And plan your visit to the Creation Museum soon—there’s so much to see and do!

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.