I've been walking around taking pictures, both in Jerusalem and here. So this post will be about flowers! The best time for flowers in Israel, of course, is in the spring -- then the fields are blankets of color. Then the irises bloom on Har Gilboa, the tulips and lupine bloom in the valleys and you can find small orchids blooming everywhere! Now the flowers are in the gardens. The flowers that I am posting here are all very common on the streets in the cities. This particular flower at the top is everywhere, but I've asked several people and no one seems to know her name...


This is white bougainvillea. Bougainvillea grows everywhere -- purple, orange, salmon, and white. There is a huge wall across the street from where we live, covered with white bougainvillea and when the white bracts fall, they fly everywhere through the streets, piling up in corners. Lovely trash!


Yellow Hibiscus. Hibiscus is blooming all over Haifa now -- red or white mostly, but yesterday I came across this beautiful yellow flower. They are really astonishing -- probably five inches across.




And below, a close-up of the stamens and pistil of a red hibiscus.



















Last, blue phlox. Another flower that is ubiquitous at this time of year -- large bushes everywhere.

Of course I could write more about the water that it takes to make the desert bloom here, and the political issues around water, but not today. Today I am just enjoying the flowers!

Pat