Signs of spring as cherry blossoms bloom at Jerusalem gardens

Wildflower season has arrived, as Israelis celebrate the partially lifted lockdown by tripping through carpets of red anemones in the Negev and lounging among purple lupines in the Ella Valley (and in other locations).

And Jerusalem’s Botanical Gardens is celebrating cherry blossom season.

Its trees of pale pink Japanese Sakura blossoms are in bloom, just in time for the gardens’ reopening after the most recent lockdown.

The cherry blossoms are in bloom for about three weeks, said a Botanical Gardens spokesperson.

“That’s nature,” said the spokesperson, “we’re not in charge.”

The pink-crowned Katie Heath narcissus is in bloom on February 14, 2021 at Jerusalem’s Botanical Gardens (Courtesy Jerusalem Botanical Gardens)

The trees should be in full bloom through February 20. Walking tours begin at 11 a.m. each day and there are train rides between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

There are also origami workshops to celebrate the Japanese origins of the Sakura cherry blossom, and other tours around the 42-acre (170-dunam) gardens.

The rare pink narcissus, a pink-crowned blossom also known as the Katie Heath daffodil, is also flowering right now at the gardens.

The hybridized flower, more familiar in Europe, is the only one of its kind in Israel, according to Ori Fragman-Sapir, head botanist at the gardens, with 10 of its kind planted at the gardens, and all expected to bloom this year.