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.
The 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.
Ellen and Jean Reid are developing a new butterflies museum, the Fantastic Butterflies Museum, to be opened adjacent to the Bible Museum.
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.