I’m alone on a trail at Ramat Hanadiv. The end of winter in Israel, Middle Eastern winter. Winter rains and itsy bitsy snow was the ‘deposit.’ Wildflowers everywhere here was the ‘withdrawal.’ 2016 and I’m Blessed to be in Israel once again, March 2016.
Butterflies. My eyes are triggered to see them flying, perched, nectaring, mud puddling, here there and everywhere. These recent years, I’ve sought to be acutely aware of beautiful flowers and extraordinary native botany.
Here’s a bounty of that visual scanning thing. Saw it, liked it, examined it and concluded, Don’t know it but like it. Half way around the world, and it made me think: The Jews saw it here, the Romans saw it here, the Greeks saw it here, the Crusaders saw it here, the Christians saw it here, the British saw it here, the Turks saw it here and the Arabs saw it here. Sobering.
Nerved-Calyx Stachys is found north of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and all the way to the upper Galilee and the Golan Heights. It blooms predictably in March and April. It’s demure and fascinating.
Come in 2017 and we’ll search it out. Serious. You know who you are.
Jeff
Winged Beauty Butterflies 
Lovely capture of such a tiny sparkling amethyst gem! This is a cousin to our native hedge nettles, and when they start to bloom early in the spring I always crouch down to say hello again and admire the flowers , thinking once again of how they remind me of tiny little orchids. Just goes to show that Great Beauty is always there if we stop and take the time to observe and admire nature’s seemingly insignificant wonders!
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