A few of the scholarship recipients got the chance to go on a seed collecting trip with the head scientist of the Jerusalem Botanical Garden. We drove about 25 minutes east out of Jerusalem to the edge of the desert to collect seed of native plants. Something that amazes me every time, is how the depth and perception of the desert just throws off your sense of scale. Below, look on the left side of the photo, and about halfway up you'll see the the light gray hill sloping down to the right. See the line of black dots on the hill? That was a herd of goats, who are commonly brought out into the desert to graze. If you notice the other two hills to the right of the one that they are on, you can tell that the goats graze there too because there isn't as much vegetation as the surrounding hills. These goats are herded by the Bedwins, which is a nomadic Arabic population. What throws me off though is that i could hear, very clearly, the goats bleating and hear the bells they wear jingling, and thought they weren't too far away. When i looked up all i could see was what looked like little black ants inching their way across the desert, they were much further than anticipated. 
This is the area where we started, in total we went to 2 places to collect. We were looking for colchicum seeds that would've been blooming on the hillside, especially looking next to rocks. Unfortunately we did not come across any colchicums but found seed from other plants to collect. We collected from Oreganum syriacum, which is a common spice plant that is used throughout Israel called Za'tar. It is used in hummus, on pita bread, and has many other uses.
The sun light plays beautifully off the hills at times. When seed is collected, 2x the amount needed is collected and this is for germinating plants for the botanical garden itself and the rest is for seed trading with other botanical gardens worldwide.
Ori, the head scientist, explained to us that the desert soil is very salty due to the salts in the rain that collect in the topsoil. Some shrubs that grow here too increase the salinity underneath the soil to prevent competition from other plants. pretty sneaky.. Though most of the vegetation in the desert looks bleak, look on the bottom left of the photo and you'll see a lush green strip. This is where there is a higher concentration of water due to it being at the bottom of deep valley.
There are tiny settlements, or towns, like on the top left, that are dotted throughout these areas.
On the way towards the Dead Sea, where some plants we wanted seed from were growing, we passed these farms with all these palms planted in rows. These are date palms, Phoenix dactylifera, and it is a highly productive crop that is exported out of Israel.
So this was our next location, a crossroads right next to the Dead Sea where an area where native plants have been planted.
Though this plant isn't native, we collected from it anyway. It is called Calotropis procera, and is actually native to India. It is extremely poisonous and is used to make candle wicks. 
Here is it's flower which is small in terms to the full size of the shrub. 
The fluffy seeds emerge to be carried away by the wind.
Future generations on the go..
This is what the seeds look like when they are still packed inside the seedpod, not yet ready to go out, all organized and awaiting their release. 
It also gets attacked by aphids really bad.
And here was Abutilon hirtum which was about 7' tall.
And here was Abutilon hirtum which was about 7' tall.Sometimes your lucky and get to see the many different stages of life on a plant.
Here is the flower bud,
which opens to a yellow bloom,
then has a seed pod that is flat and ridged,
to eventually opening to a ray like seed pod.
Our last stop was purely for taking in the view, which made us feel very small.
Can you see what's here? This is the wild Ibek, which is a mountain goat that lives in the desert. They were walking in front of the car, and I have been looking forward to seeing them since i got here. There are about 7 in the photo above.
There were adult and young Ibek.
Here is the flower bud,which opens to a yellow bloom,
then has a seed pod that is flat and ridged,to eventually opening to a ray like seed pod.
Our last stop was purely for taking in the view, which made us feel very small.
Can you see what's here? This is the wild Ibek, which is a mountain goat that lives in the desert. They were walking in front of the car, and I have been looking forward to seeing them since i got here. There are about 7 in the photo above.
There were adult and young Ibek.Seeing them was a treat, and since it was mating season, well....... you get it. They got busy, and we took that as our cue to head off...
Mount Scopus Botanical garden is situated in east Jerusalem and was established in 1920. It is attached to the Hebrew University and sits atop the high vantage point of Mt. Scopus. From the this vantage point your able to look back at the Old City of Jerusalem in the distance with the beautiful golden architecture of the Dome of the Rock, looking exquisite with the fall color of the moment. 
Mount Scopus is important georgraphically when it comes to rainfall. This is because when it does rain, with the rainy season starting in November, it is the divider between where it flows to. The rain that falls on the west side of Mt. Scopus flows towards the Mediterranean Sea, which would be the photo above.
If the rain falls on the east side, it flows through the Judean desert, as seen above, towards the Dead Sea. Since the ground is so dry most of the time, it is actually dangerous when rainstorms happen due to the ground not being able to absorb the water quickly enough and thereby creating flash floods, especially closer to the Dead Sea. In the photo you are able to see part of the Israeli West Bank Border, which is the line which runs through the shaded out part of the mountains above.
In the actual gardens, it is set up to display the different native plant communities that exist within Israel. It is amazing though, at how well plants can adapt to their surrounding environment. Let me explain. Though you have the same 4 seasons here, the plants are on a different schedule. With the summers being so hot here, most plants go dormant and disappear to escape the blazing sun, with most of the bulbs that will and annuals only beginning to germinate when the rains come, which is now, during the fall season. So while the deciduous trees and shrubs are now dropping their foliage, the bulbs and annuals are waking up, such as the wild Lupines. So most plants bloom starting now and will come to a stop once the summer comes round again. This is also when we plant out the ornamental annuals- due to the winters still being somewhat considerably warmer.
Here is the discreet bloom of Cyclamen persica which is out now. This plant has so much genetic diversity, which is obvious in all of its intricately patterned foliage which differs from one plant to the next. . It is discreet in the sense that it is so close to the ground that it is very easily overlooked. The corms that the blooms and foliage come from can reach the size of a softball, and this plant happily seeds itself everywhere.
Here is Pancratium sickenbergeri which is now in seed which grows on the coastal dunes of the Mediterranean.
It's seeds, which are inside this black casing, are devised to float due to a spongy layer that is between the outer black part and the actual seed. This helps to ensure future generations settling onto different parts of the Mediterranean coast by floating to new destinations.
These is a demonstration area to show how people used to have their allotment gardens. The beds were laid out in a very simple fashion and these gardens integrated vegetables, fruit, and small orchards. 
What I found interesting was this small stone building which was common when these allotment gardens existed. These were used as a means of shelter to help watch over your crops when they were close to harvest time. What people would do was stay in the bottom part of it in the cooler months to protect yourself from the cold weather and in the warmer months they would stay in the top part, which was covered with material to protect oneself from the harsh sun. This was done so you could be there to make sure no one stole or looted the fruits of your labor, which happened quite often.
We were able to see where they store and clean seeds that have been collected.
Sometimes plant names make me laugh, like Aparagus horridus. Bad!Bad asparagus! It just gives a funny visual to me of the one that we love to eat.
The Hebrew University was right next door to the gardens and the campus grounds were very lush and inviting. Ficus pumila scrambles up the sides of some of the buildings. 
Ahh, fall color.
Drove to the Dead Sea with some friends and was amazed at the beautiful landscapes we saw along the way. 
On the west side of the Dead Sea is Israel, while on the eastern side you are able to see the mountains of Jordan.
I didn't know what to expect upon entering the Dead Sea, people tell you so many different things. Someone told me before going that it felt like being in a pot of warm chicken soup. What do you think after hearing that?! The first thing you notice is that the water feels a little thicker than normal, almost oily, which would explain the soup reference. Then you walk out until you reach mid-chest and 
Due to large scale projects though, the depth of the sea has been dropping rapidly over the past 50 years. If you ever have the opportunity to go, please do.
The gardens are built on a kibbutz that is fed by underground springs. So while driving, this was the only green area in the desert that you could see.
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