Brown? Nah!

We have definitely entered the season of brown. All the verdant grasses, beautiful wild flowers and blossoms of March and April have been desiccated into only golden stalks (golden sounds less depressing than brown, doesn't it?). But this is only in the "wild" spaces, where plants are left to their own devices.

Climate has never stopped Israelis. They are the great world Innovators of Irrigation and Superheros of Sprinklers! They can grow oranges in a desert and tomatoes on the saltiest land on earth!

In the city, the intense irrigation means many of the domestic plants in people's yards are now in heavy bloom. One neighbors' houses have the unfortunate look of suffering from a giant chemistry experiment gone wrong. The flowers appear to be oozing out of the roof.


Even as those flowers are fading, the Jacaranda trees are blooming purple, which reminds me of Christmas time in Adelaide. Our whole street is a bower.


There are so many blooming plants here. It didn't occur to me until we came back from Canada how much Jerusalem smells like flowers. The whole air of the city is perfumed.