Located a short distance from both the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University is one of only three biblical botanical gardens located in North America and may be the only garden of its type devoted to the study of horticulture and agriculture of the ancient Near East. It was started over two decades ago by Irene Jacob who is the wife of retired Rabbi Walter Jacob.
The Rodef Shalom Biblical Botanical Garden is a little over one third of an acre and is in the shape of Israel. There is a stream filled with goldfish that runs through it. The stream travels from what they call Lake Kineret to the Dead Sea and is referred to as the river Jordan. The garden setting makes its visitors think about the Holy land, as it provides them with a lovely waterfall, a small desert and more than 100 temperate and tropical types of plants that were grown during the time of ancient Israel. All of the plants have a plaque near them which provides information about their history and uses.
Plants are chosen for the garden in three different ways. They could be one of the 110 plants mentioned in the Old Testament such as barley or frankincense. A plant could also be used if it has a biblical sounding name such as “Joseph’s Coat” or “Moses in the Basket.” A third group is the featured plants put in the garden each year to represent an annual summer theme.
Irene Jacobs spends the winter months each year searching catalogs to find the plants she’ll use in the upcoming summer garden. Over the years she’s gotten pretty good at figuring out exactly what will work and obtaining even the most hard-to-find plants.
Since Pennsylvania is a place that experiences snow and severe cold in the winter and a good portion of the plants from the garden are Mediterranean or tropical, they have to be taken out of the garden before a frost. Several truck loads of plants from the garden are taken to a greenhouse each year to spend the winter. They are not put back in the garden again until the weather makes it is possible for them to survive. This is the reason that the garden is only open for the warm months during the year which is usually from June to September. The garden’s yearly operation takes a lot of study, preparation, scheduling, work and dedication.
WEBSITE
http://www.biblicalgardenpittsburgh.org/
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