Recently I was lucky enough to travel to Israel with my parents, brothers, and husband. It was a great trip, and I saw some beautiful gardens while there. Israel is very similar, landscape-wise, to California, so I was right at home amongst their succulents, lavenders, olives, and citrus. Here are some of my garden photos from the trip…
This was in an artsy part of Yafo. I actually saw very few modern-style glazed containers while in Israel. Anyone know what succulent this is?
These greco-roman urn style pots were much more common. Lots of bougainvillea in Israel too.
These snake-like cacti were interesting. And see what I mean about the ancient urn style pots? I guess it fits a country in which 2,000 years old is kind of middle aged.
This was in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. It was simple, but elegant. A lot of the homes here had large walls surrounding an inner courtyard that was very quiet and peaceful.
These aloe, yucca, date palms, and other miscellaneous succulents were exploding over a wall in the ancient city of Caesarea.
Sunrise over the Sea of Gallilee. Northern Israel is one of the most beautiful parts of the country, in my opinion. It’s very hilly, and green.
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I’m jealous. My uncle lives in the southern part of is in the Arava. He works in agriculture doing IPM. They have built tons of farms in the desert. Pretty crazy. Red peppers are their largest import. Now I’m noticing the Israel stickers on them. Glad you got the enjoy and experience the trip.
I love succulents and those are lovely. I wish we lived in a climate where we could have them outdoors!
meemsnyc–There are a few hardy succulents. Check out a book called Hardy Succulents by Gwen Kalaidis: http://amzn.to/i9Dsct.
Wow, thanks for sharing Fern. That must have been an amazing trip! It’s always nice to see it through a gardener’s eyes and see what other people are planting on the other side of the world.
Mike–That sounds like a cool gig. Israel is often on the cutting edge of farming practices.
I love succulents too. Thanks for your book recommendation Fern. It is now on my amazon wish list
I’ve always wanted to go to Israel. Sounds like the trip of a lifetime, and a wonderful one to share with family. The succulents in the shallow glazed pot are likely a hybrid of Kalanchoe luciae (aka flapjacks or paddle plant).
Hi Fern, I heard through the grapevine about your blog being a very nice success. It is truly original and has great articles & photos! Congratulations, I’m going to post a link on my http://www.timerealty.biz website and send some traffic over. Normally when I hear somebody is blogging, my response is “eh…that’s nice.” But this is really a quality site with great content. Nice job!
-Matt
That’s awesome that you were in my neck of the woods. Thanks for highlighting some of Israel’s gardens, it’s nice to get inspiration from close to home!
Wonderful photos
I’m glad you enjoyed your stay!
My favorite garden balconies are in Neve Zedek in Tel Aviv, they are usually unique and fun to look at. I love walking there and dreaming of a balcony of my own (6 months to go!).
I was so amazed when I was in Israel that such lushness was created out of a desert. You must have seen some wonderful things. I hope you got a chance to see the Bahai gardens in Haifa–formal, but amazing.
Hello Fern, nice blog!
About the succulent in the pic you’ve been unable to identity: may it be some species of aeonium? It really looks like it is. I’ve got a big aeonium arboreum on my southern italian balcony and its “roses” are quite similar to those in your picure. Good hunt!
No…They’re not aeoniums. When aeoniums flower, they stretch out, and the flowers peek out in between the leaves. I think they’re something in the kalanchoe family.
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