Israeli flowers

A tour to the late blooming at Mount Harmon and the

Galilee Mountains

For those who love flowers in nature

Our tiny state is known to be rich and versatile in its flowers. As it turns out, flowers have a language of their own. Humans, intelligent as we are, understand only a tiny bit of the language of flowers. The bees, the birds, the flies, the butterflies and the beetles, which are known for their role in the act of pollination, fluently speak the flowers’ language. Those winged creatures do not pollinate as a mere act of kindness. They seek wholesome nutrition, which can be found in flowers. Bees have great eyesight and a fierce sense of smell.

Not only do they notice the colors blue, red, purple and yellow, but they can also identify each color in an ultraviolet light, which cannot be identified by the human eye. We identify blooming cycles by colors: At first the bloom of yellow flowers, then reds and immediately after, sometimes during, the purples, and the last to bloom are again the yellows.

Yellow blooming

The sparitum bush, also known as Weaver’s Broom, blooms at mountains and is an amazing attraction. The sweet intoxicating scent of the flowers can be sensed from a great distance. These bushes are visible from the Karmiel- Kamon road, and the old road leading from Safed to Meron and Parod. The blooming is different at different heights: The higher you climb, the later it comes. Generally, the Spatirum is a late bloomer, it can sometimes linger till June! The herbs thyme, savory and salvia can also be found there. The impressive blooming of the salvia at the Galilee mountaintops can last until June. The antirrhinum is the late bloomers’ royalty.

The mullein, which resembles a Menorah, is a mighty Jewish plant. In Aramaic, its name, buzin, means candle, and it probably was what inspired the old wise people of Israel when they designed the Menorah.

We would like to mention two more plants, styrax officinalis and buckthorn, whose blooming is both very impressive visually and scent-wise.

So what should you do when the blooming in the Galilee Mountains is over? Go up to Mount Hermon!

We wish you a wonderful, colorful and a flower scented tour.