You've heard of victory gardens, organic gardens and herb gardens.
Now "Bible gardens" — gardens filled with plants found in the Bible — have taken root as an American fad.
"It's a real trend to grow gardens of Bible flowers," says Drew Burkey, horticulturist at Salt Lake City's Red Butte Garden. "You see them around churches and even private homes now."
And from now until the end of May, you can also see them at Red Butte, just above the University of Utah.
For its "Plants of the Bible" self-guided tour, Red Butte organizers have "cross-bred" a traveling exhibit of water color paintings of various Bible plants with the garden's own outdoor varieties. Each visitor is given a checklist of plants and then sent on a "treasure hunt" of sorts to track them down. The biblical plants found in the garden itself have been marked with yellow cards that are filled with information and Bible references.
"This exhibit is a good example of what we want to do here," says Jaculynn Peterson, communications manager at Red Butte. "We're looking for 'themes.' We have 150 acres here, and a lot is on display.
One thing that quickly becomes clear is that the visual image we have when we read the name of a flower or tree in the scriptures seldom matches up with the thing itself.
The rose, as we know it in America, is unable to grow in the Holy Land. Other plants bear the name "rose" there — some of them not like roses at all.
And botanists and biblical scholars have concluded that the "golden apples" mentioned in the Bible were more than likely apricots. Apples, as we think of them, can't be found.
One plant that does hold up in translation is the castor bean. It's generally thought to be the source of the gourd that shaded Jonah.
"It is a fast-growth plant in the Holy Land and can grow to 40 feet," says Burkey. "It has large leaves and can quickly and easily be girdled by a worm and die."
Where hard facts are scarce, there are many charming legends to consider.
The thistle, for instance, is mottled with white — the legend goes — because the Virgin Mary accidentally let milk fall on one while feeding Jesus.
"It's interesting that thistles are used to boost breast milk production in some cultures," says Burkey.
The drooping branches of the weeping willow have supposedly hung down in mourning ever since the day the Israelites hung their harps on the tree by the rivers of Babylon.
And the famous "lilies of the field" that Jesus asked his disciples to consider may have been lilies, though historians have concluded the term probably refers to any of a variety of wild flowers — including the popular Easter flower, the daffodil.
Wormwood is also on display at Red Butte. The bitter herb was used as a metaphor for suffering and calamity by many biblical prophets. One tradition claims wormwood sprung up in the tracks of the serpent as it slithered from Eden. Ancient authors often added wormwood to their ink to keep rodents from gnawing at their pens and paper.
At the end of the tour, each visitor gets a small packet of seeds from Bible plants — wormwood among them.
Other plants at Red Butte include the red bud tree (the tree, supposedly, used by Judas to hang himself), olive trees, flax (the plants that hid Joshua), garlic, grapes, hemlock and many others.
The tour and exhibit run through May 21. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children. A membership and yearlong pass to the Red Butte Garden is $25.
For more information, call 581-IRIS or check out the Web site www.redbutte.utah.edu.Red Butte is located at 300 Wakara Way, just off Foothill Blvd.