Classic Gardening Magazine
Gardening as it ought to be
A little snip of Palestine
Here are two little snips from plants growing in Palestine. They both have a story to tell.
You know how it is when you are in a garden and you spot a plant that you would really rather like to have in your own plot. You take a little snip.
Now, I'm not endorsing the practice of denuding gardens of lovely plants. That's obviously wrong. But there can't be too much harm in taking a tiny bit of a luscious growth, or a seed head.
I particularly like plants from significant places. So the tree onions I got from Rudyard Kipling's place at Burwash in Sussex, or the yellow flag irises grown from spilled seed at Roald Dahl's garden at Great Missenden, Bucks, can't have hurt anyone.
People know about my hobby and sometimes, when they are in places I haven't been, and spot plants that they know I'd like, they bring me a souvenir.
This weekend I got a couple of samples from Palestine. Now, it's strictly forbidden to bring live plants out of Israel, so my correspondent must remain anonymous, but I'm grateful to him.
Both
snips come from places with hugely resonant histories. The aloe on the
left in the picture at teh top of this post (I've yet to identify either species so bear with me here) came
from Bethany in Jerusalem (left and up a bit), from a spot where it is believed Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.
The smaller specimen is from the Shepherds' Field (above), on the hills outside Bethlehem, where the angel appeared and proclaimed Christ's birth.
And if they grow, there'll be a little bit of the Holy Land in my garden.
Here are two little snips from plants growing in Palestine. They both have a story to tell.You know how it is when you are in a garden and you spot a plant that you would really rather like to have in your own plot. You take a little snip.
Now, I'm not endorsing the practice of denuding gardens of lovely plants. That's obviously wrong. But there can't be too much harm in taking a tiny bit of a luscious growth, or a seed head.
I particularly like plants from significant places. So the tree onions I got from Rudyard Kipling's place at Burwash in Sussex, or the yellow flag irises grown from spilled seed at Roald Dahl's garden at Great Missenden, Bucks, can't have hurt anyone.People know about my hobby and sometimes, when they are in places I haven't been, and spot plants that they know I'd like, they bring me a souvenir.
This weekend I got a couple of samples from Palestine. Now, it's strictly forbidden to bring live plants out of Israel, so my correspondent must remain anonymous, but I'm grateful to him.
Both
snips come from places with hugely resonant histories. The aloe on the
left in the picture at teh top of this post (I've yet to identify either species so bear with me here) came
from Bethany in Jerusalem (left and up a bit), from a spot where it is believed Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.The smaller specimen is from the Shepherds' Field (above), on the hills outside Bethlehem, where the angel appeared and proclaimed Christ's birth.
And if they grow, there'll be a little bit of the Holy Land in my garden.
