Plants of the Bible Tour

It is amazing how many interesting sides the Bible has and how many things it has to show us. One side of scripture that we rarely think about is how different the land of Israel is from America. Different plants, different animals, different weather, different geography. Even wonder what the fig tree that Zacheus climbed might have looked like? Well, it happen to in Arizona, it might be worth a trip to the Bryce Thompson Arboretum which has a "Plants of the Bible" tour.

Pomegranates, Olives, Common Fig, Palms...what do these plants have in common other than being referenced in Scripture? All grow well here in Arizona. These species are among dozens which may be seen during a walk through along the Arboretum's main trail and in the Demonstration Garden and Herb Garden collections. Would you like to see Acacia raddiana, a sturdy wood described among the construction materials used to build the Ark of the Covenant? Or see a fig leaf and judge for yourself just how much anatomy it might conceal?
"The people of the Bible were much closer to nature than we are today and were more aware of the cycles of the seasons, the weather, and the characteristics and use of plants," said Boyce Thompson Arboretum volunteer David Oberpriller, guide of our third-Saturday-each-month tour. "This is reflected in the many passages in the Bible that accurately refer to plants and agriculture."

To be clear, I have not been to this place myself. So I can't recommend it, personally. But it certainly sounds interesting, and like a nice place to stop and learn some things that Connecticut can not offer.