creative jewish mom

Oleander In Bloom In Israel

Right about now I should be working on Succah decorations (truthfully I have enough in boxes in the attic for a few succahs, as you can imagine....) but instead I've been painting in my art journal and looking at some of my own photos for inspiration. Up the hill from my house and within our cobblestone paved "old city" sits this gated entrance, complete with a lovely oleander bush and a palm, that is so very picturesque and begging to be painted! Since I shared with you my oleander sketch earlier this week, I thought I would share photos of this special little spot, either as inspiration to plant some oleander, or to put paint brush or pen to paper, you decide!

Take A Walk In An Olive Grove In Northen Israel!

We are in the middle of an extreme heat wave which means it is even too hot at 6pm for my usual walk which takes me through a lovely old olive grove, so I thought I'd share with you some photos I took a few weeks ago on one of those end of the day walks! Come along, it will be lovely!

Olive trees are native to the Mediterranean region (as well as parts of Africa and Asia) and both olive oil and olives play a great role in the Mediterranean diet. Not to mention that olive oil was the oil lit in the menorah in the Beit HaMikdash, and is now used by many when lighting the Chanukah menorah. Olive trees are seen dotting the hills all over Israel, and some of them have huge trunks, meaning they are hundreds of years old. There is an olive tree in town that is said to be 800 years old, and its trunk is practically a little house! Olive trees are also evergreens, so they basically look the same year round, except when bearing olives (which is really only noticable when you are close up) or flowering with tiny flowers in the Spring. While some trees have a uniform shape, olive trees come in many shapes and sizes, as you will see on our little walk through the olive grove!

Queen Anne's Lace In Bloom Everywhere In Northern Israel

I love witnessing the yearly cycle of the fields and hillsides just outside our front door, and the brilliant cascade of color sometimes associated with that! In the spring vivid green becomes hills of rolling yellow, then dotted by red and white, and then comes all things purple, like thistles of all kinds (which I must photograph this coming week) and now we are enjoying a dense bloom of Queen Anne's lace, otherwise known as wild carrot, bird's nest, and bishop's lace. Daucus carota, is its real name, and is a white, flowering plant, with tall stocks and a very interesting flower. Yes, it is a weed, but a lovely one, whose silhouette at sundown is very striking indeed. Common to many temperate areas of the world, most of you, who have taken time to observe the weeds, will be familiar with this beauty, who is actually edible! Lets take a quick look at the Queen Anne's lace plant I've been enjoying on my evening walk, shall we?

A Walk In The Neighborhood At Dusk Northern Israel Style

Yes dear readers, this really is my neighborhood in Northern Israel, and sometimes I just have to pinch myself when I realize that I'm so very fortunate to be living in such a gorgeous place with rich history and stunning views. It feels like we are living out in the country, and yet we live in town of 35,000 and with everything we need either right next door or within walking distance! This is because we actually live on the edge of the town, and all our neighbors down the hill are those buried in the cemetery, both old (from a long as 2,000 years ago) and new, and a very special bunch indeed. Nature is just outside our door, and a small 45 minute hike through the neighboring native preserve/grazing land is like truly setting out on an adventure! This week has been really HOT and I am now missing my evening walk, so hoping the weather cools down a bit so we can enjoy the great outdoors once again. In the mean time, join me on my walk, and enjoy! Hope you are wearing comfortable walking shoes and you don't mind a bit of a workout, getting back up the hill is exercise!

Red Poppies And White Daisies In Bloom In Northern Israel

I love sharing with you all the beautiful seasonal blooming and bearing of fruit of native species here in Israel, and so of course the blooming of the red poppies, a month late this year, is on the list of things to share. I previously wrote about poppies in bloom on a hillside near my home here, but then I recently came across another patch of dense blooms and just had to photograph it! I took these photos a week plus ago, and fortunately as we are now experiencing a heat wave that has certainly led to the demise of these beauties. And the weather has been so hot that even an evening walk isn't possible, which I miss so very much, sigh. By the time I get out again for a walk in nature I'm quite sure that all the tall purple thistle will be in bloom, so we can look forward to that, though of course the red poppies, especially when paired with tiny white daisies are truly special. Enjoy!

Pride Of Madeira Blooms In Northern Israel

One of my favorite non-native yet very Mediterranean garden friendly plants is Pride of Madeira. I found some small plants at a local nursery years ago, and the tiny plants have become woody bushes/trees that bloom every Spring with gorgeous cone-shaped purple flower stalks. This year we had a very wet winter and so all the plants are blooming roughly a month late, which is fine by me, just now that the hot weather has arrived the blooms will likely not last as long, such is life. In any case, I've once again photographed the Pride of Madeira bush in a garden I designed a few years back, and it is lovely as ever.

Interestingly, Pride of Madeira (Echium candicans) is native only to the island of Madeira which lies in the Atlantic, southwest of Portugal. However, its rosettes of soft green leaves and dramatic spikes of blue-purple flowers, together with its drought tolerance have made it a landscaping favorite worldwide, including coastal California. (I have seen lots of it in Northern California, like at the Berkeley marina.) Just beware, as unfortunately, it occasionally escapes gardens and moves into wildlands where it eliminates the native plants that support  native birds and mammals. If you are interested in learning more, check out the link here, with photos of the plant in it's native environment! And if you are not a gardener, then maybe you like to paint or sketch and this one is a beauty to feature, right? Enjoy a little step into a garden in Northern Israel where Pride of Madeira steals the show every Spring.

Wild Red Poppies In Bloom In Northern Israel!

At long last, after a thankfully very very wet winter, the beloved red poppies are in full bloom! Truthfully, they are about a month or so late, and not nearly as prolific as usual, but lovely nonetheless. After a long walk in the area and only spotting sparse areas of poppies here and there, I came across a hillside, just a minute from my house, full of vibrant red poppies in bloom! Wow, so beautiful, and so of course I just had to take lots of photos to share with you!

These red poppies, are natives to Northern Israel, though it turns out that there are several species of red flowers that look very similar, and I'll admit, even I've been confused, as everyone calls all the red flowers one name, poppies in English, and calanit in Hebrew. These species do not bloom coincidentially but sequentially, beginning with the Anemones, and followed by the tulips, Asiatic ranunculi, and poppies, spanning the spring months with red showy flowers, the floral glories in fact, of Israel. These flowers have a similar appearance in shape and color and from a distance they may easily be confused. Now that I've done a tiny bit of research to clarify, it turns out that the flowers here are poppies, though in the past I have certainly photographed red flowers that are anemones, and who, I now know, have a much larger black center with a  white ring around that center. Phew, that poppy/anemone issue has really been bugging me! Okay, lets take a closer look at the red dotted hillside, come along now........

Wisteria Blooms In Northern Israel

During the Passover holiday my daughter was itching to just get outside, so I sent her down the street to the garden I designed a few years back, with the mission of photographing the glorious wisteria in bloom! Wisteria blooms before there are any leaves on the vine, so it is truly spectacular, the only downside being that it just doesn't last long enough! This year the usual tour groups that gather in this location will most certainly not be coming, so this may be my chance to start the wisteria filled pergola for creating a shaded area with vines! I have seen this before, and it actually works really well, just not sure how long it takes! So with businesses now opening up again in Israel, I think we need to order some wisteria vines ASAP, note to self. How they'll be actually be supported is actually secondary to getting the vines in the ground now that Spring is here! Enjoy these photos and consider giving wisteria a try, if your winters are cold enough that is!

Cranes Migrating Home To Europe On A Rainy Day

Yes, dear readers, we know that Spring is quickly approaching, even in some of the colder countries in Europe, as the twice-yearly crane migration is happening! This is one of our favorite things to witness, here in Northern Israel, and family members generally shout to one another "cranes!" and everyone comes running, as it is truly a sight not to be missed. Sometimes small groups of cranes fly close enough to even see their tiny feet with the naked eye, while most of the time the cranes are rather far away. Today, amidst the rain clouds I spotted several very large groups of cranes, and ran to grab my camera. Today, possibly because of the weather the cranes were flying higher than usual, though the sighting was still exciting. Keep on reading to see the entire grey sky filled with tiny cranes, stunning!

Almond Trees In Bloom In Northern Israel, Just Like In Van Gogh's Painting!

Here in Northern Israel where we are blessed to be living close to nature, the yearly blooming of the almond trees is something that brings great joy! The almond tree is the first tree to bloom, and as fruit bearing tree it is one of the trees whose New Year we celebrate on the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat.

Every year we await the first blooms, the kids arrive home with reports on the status of the trees, and it is something mentioned among friends and neighbors. Why? because it is truly a joyful sight, in the middle of the winter, when all the other plants are still sleeping, to see white and light pink blossoms dotting the hills! While the first trees bloomed several weeks ago, there are still many with closed buds, so I was able to capture some of this loveliness today to share with you. Granted, the trees are more beautiful when the sky is blue, so I'll give it another try soon, but in the meantime, enjoy!