The Bible Museum includes a Bible Plant Garden, which has trees mentioned in or related to the Bible, such as a Cedar of Lebanon, Pomegranates, and a 100+ year old Holm Oak, and Papyrus reeds, and more.
However, the star attraction in the garden is the Butterfly Garden. Metamorphosis, the word describing the transformation from a caterpillar to a butterfly, was taken from the Greek New Testament text by early biologists.
At the Bible Museum we breed butterflies to show the metamorphosis transformation to visitors, demonstrating the change that the ‘Word of God’ can have in a believer’s life. We regard it as the ‘spiritual’ message of the museum. Visitors are able to watch the whole butterfly life cycle. They see butterflies hatch, in season, then release them out into the garden, where they set up territorial zones around nectar flowers and caterpillar host plants.
The butterflies stay around the Butterfly Garden as there are specific butterfly nectar plants and caterpillar host plants which attract them. Those locals in St Arnaud who have planted butterfly gardens enjoy them gliding around their flowers, reminding them of the museum.
This year (2025) some of the monarch butterflies which Ellen Reid (our Museum Director) has been breeding have taken up residence in the Queen Mary Botanical Gardens, here in St Arnaud. They are currently roosting in large numbers in the enormous Claret Ash tree, which is in front of the public toilets. You can spot them camoflagued in amongst some of the dead leaves overhanging the drain, near the pond. They come out when it's sunny and fly around and nectar on the salvias, which are currently in flower.
Watch a video of Monarch Butterflies in the St Arnaud Queen Mary Botanical Gardens here:
https://www.thebiblemuseum.com.au/images/St-Arnaud-Butterflies.mp4
Some of the Monarch Butterflies roosting in a cluster on the Claret Ash tree:
The Bible Museum Butterfly and Bible Plant Garden is open from November to May and various species of butterflies can be seen, depending on the time of year. We try to have Monarch or Wanderer butterflies from November to May, but this very much depends on the weather.
Breeding butterflies was another long term hobby for Ellen and Jean, and originally began back in the 1970's, in Perth. They breed a few different species of butterflies, mainly those suited to a temperate climate and release them back into the garden.
The ABC made a video about our butterflies here: