Sunday, February 12, 2012

IRIS ARGAMAN - COASTAL IRIS


Irus haArgaman - איריס הארגמן - Iris atropurpurea - is endemic to the coastal area of Israel. This magnificent flower blooms in February and March. The stalks reach a height up to 40 cm and are crowned with a single large flower head, the size of a medium fist.


The colors of the flowers range in hues of purple, to almost black, sometimes even tending towards orange. Argaman is Hebrew for purple. This is a protected plant. It likes to grow in soil of sand and gravel and can be found even very near to the shore line of the sea near Palmachim and Natanya.




We went for a long weekend to the north of Israel to the Galilee, the Kinnereth, and the Golan Heights. Our first stop on the way was at a small nature reserve off highway number four, near Kadima, where we found the wonderful purple Iris. It was early in the morning, after a night of rain and the remaining drops on some of the flower petals added to their beauty.

I will show more spring flowers and views from our trip in the next post.

Photographs by Uri Eshkar.

11 comments:

Eva said...

Sensationell -- die Blume und die Bilder! Wie schön, dass man so wenigstens eine Ahnung von Frühling bekommt, denn hier liegt noch alles in Kältestarre. Danke für Deine Frühlingsgrüße!

Hilde said...

The colour is spectacular, what a beauty :)
Thanks for sharing the photos, Yael!
Have a lovely new week :)

Bob Bushell said...

Beautiful colour of this Iris, well done.

Dawn of LaTouchables said...

I am a huge fan of the iris, and especially in this royal purple! You lucky one, but in three months our own irises will be coming! Spring...I LOVE it.

wandamarie.blogspot.com said...

my favorite flower yael! thank you for the enjoyment early...we are like dawn, we won't see them till spring here! xo

Tomoko said...

Wow,Yael

Each curling petal is catching my eyes and very gorgeous. They imply that spring is coming soon.I look forward to your next post"spring flowers".

Enjoy your day.

Tomoko

Anonymous said...

Das ist ja schon richtig Sommer was du uns da präsentierst!
Die Iris kommen mir immer wie Balletttänzerinnen vor!
Liebe Yael ich wünsche dir einen guten Start in ein dynamische und fröhliche Woche
♥-lich Brigitte

TarracoStyle said...

that flowers so beautiful, they have some great colors!
kisses

Jill said...

My goodness. They're almost like little people standing together in a field. A flower convention with guest speakers and everything!

mispapelicos said...

Magic pics Yael, ahhhhhhhhhhhh

Annuk said...

Dear Yael, I just felt I must tell you how beautiful, uplifting and refreshing your blog is... a sweet oasis of beauty and love, a place to come for a "aaaaahhhhhhh" and a deep breath! :)
These flowers... your words... pure magic!