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March 24, 2006
Blossoms 'n' melodies
Israel readies for flowers to brighten up the land.
DVORA WAYSMAN
Spring. Every year, it returns like a miracle and Israel is carpeted
with wildflowers. There are nearly 3,000 types of wild plants in
this tiny land, a wonderful profusion – among the most abundant
on earth. Israel boasts a wide variety of different ecological systems:
deserts and marshes, high mountains, dense forests, open fields
with wildflowers to suit each habitat.
Wildflowers are protected in Israel, particularly rare and endangered
species. Nature reserves prohibit picking any flowers, even the
most common, which helps them to propagate over wider areas. In
turn, this brings the beautiful sunbirds, who feast on their nectar.
The Song of Songs, which we read every Passover, is the most beautiful
love poem in the world. King Solomon wrote it as a dialogue between
a young shepherd and his beloved:
"Rise up, my love, my fair one and come away,
For lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone
The flowers appear on the earth,
The time of singing is come
And the voice of the turtle is heard in the land."
The flowers he refers to, nitzanim, still carpet the fields
– shiny red poppies flaunting scarlet beauty in the grass.
In the Jerusalem Forest, delicate cyclamens bloom in the crevices
between the rocks. Called "Solomon's Crown" in Hebrew,
they lift their pink, cream or lilac heads on slender stalks. Clumps
of wild violets, the dew shimmering like diamonds, add their touch
of magic.
Israel's rainy season, mid-October to late March, has left a bequest
of green. The Sharon Valley is dotted with tulips and narcissus
– "I am the Rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys."
It is believed that King Solomon was referring to the magnificent
black tulips of the Galilee.
In spring, even the weeds are beautiful – the milk vetch, which
is just a common thistle, adds purple blooms to the roadside. The
rock rose flowers abundantly in forest glades and the orange ranunculus
bursts into bloom. Like its velvety cousin, the anemone, it is a
protected wild flower in Israel.
The perfume of daffodils, which suffused our winter, is still wafted
on the breeze and the white, cream, yellow and blue noses of lupins
are pushing through the soil. Oleanders are in bud, growing wild
by the banks of the River Jordan and near streams in Galilee, promising
a burst of summer beauty, and the blue statica reminds us that we,
too, have a Mediterranean coast like the famed Riviera. This lovely
sea plant flowers from spring until mid-summer, when its corolla
drops off and only the sepal remains.
Who says Israel has almost no natural resources? When you see the
splendor in the grass of the land's spring glory, the wildflowers
glowing like jewels, you'll echo the poet's words: "Had I but
two loaves of bread, I would sell one of them and buy white hyacinths
to feed my soul."
Dvora Waysman is the author of nine published books including
The Pomegranate Pendant, Esther and Woman of Jerusalem. She can
be contacted at [email protected].
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