I must admit I was quite surprised to see an abundance of flowers and plants in Israel.  My mental image has always been that of a desert – and certainly between the Judean and Negev, deserts are  part of Israel’s reality.

Israel has two seasons – summer from April to October when it is hot and virtually rain free, and winter from November to March  which is cooler and  about 43 inches of rain falls although  not consistently across the country.  With 8.7 million people, the country has a critical shortage.

However, Israel is the leading country in the world in terms of water management, preservation and technology.   Israel is so successful at maintaining water levels that it doesn’t need to rely much on the rain.  How is this accomplished?  A combination of desalinization, rationing, low flow apparatus and most importantly recycling – Israel recycles about 90% of it wastewater.   The water treated for reuse is predominantly used for agricultural irrigation and environmental purposes,

A by-product of this tremendous water management is the magnificent flora such as unending hills of white and yellow blooms as seen in the top photo. Here are some other pics of these hills alive with flowers: