January 2020 Tevet תש"פ
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| Domino makes his debut |
What’s in bloom in
Israel this month? A Little Ray of Sunshine
Spring Groundsel – Savion – סביון אביבי
What does one think of when one hears the word January?
Winter, cold, rain, a long time until summer.
I read the Times of London every day for ‘light relief’ from the news
here and there are many articles about January.
It is called “dry January” because everyone is giving up alcohol after
the Christmas holidays, new diets
start and people are more depressed in January than any other time of year.
It is similar to the Hebrew month of Tevet which
coincides with January. In the previous
month of Kislev we have had our festival of light, Chanukah and the following
month of Shvat is signified by celebrating the coming of Spring at Tu B’shvat –
the festival of trees. Tevet offers us
one event which is a fast day to commemorate the siege on Jerusalem leading up
to the Destruction of our Temple – yeah, really cheerful.
Meanwhile what is happening right now outside in
nature? Firstly everything has turned
green, really green. It was all a bit
late in coming but finally our land looks a little bit more like the green
hills of England and less like the Sahara desert. It is peak foraging season, with mallow,
mustard leaves and even the first
signs of asparagus coming up. (Watch this space!)
My last few entries
(squill, meadow saffron, cyclamen ) all dealt with flowers in different shades of
white through to pale pink because those are the colours that have been
flowering until now. All of a sudden in
cold, dark, rainy January we have a tiny little flash of sunshine. The first of the yellow flowers is rearing
its head – the savion avivi, spring groundsel.
This lovely little flower
from the daisy family looks like a child’s drawing of the sun. The head of the flower is about the size of
one and a half thumbnails however its bright yellow glow shouts out among the
fresh green shoots and rich brown earth. Be careful though as despite it’s
innocent look it is actually poisonous. It is a very classic looking flower although
on close inspection you can see that it is actually made up of many tiny
flowers which give it the power of the masses as it has more pollen to offer. It will blossom from now until May but will
stand out less and less as many other yellow flowers gradually blossom. To help
identify it among other yellows then look at the leaf pattern which is gently
serrated. It grows pretty much
everywhere, especially springing up at the side of the road and in building
sites. It is often condemned to being called a weed but I am gradually learning
that what is a weed for one person is beauty, sustenance, biodiversity and life
for another.  |
| Photo by Noga Hareuveni z"l |
In English it is
called common groundsel or old man in the spring. I discovered this delightful
quote from Maude Grieve, A Modern
Herbal: “The flower of this herb hath white hair and when the wind bloweth it
away, then it appeareth like a bald-headed man.” This is because when it goes to seed it attaches
its seeds to white hairs which then fly away in the wind to carry the seeds as far as possible. Another clever little trick is that when wet (highly
likely in January) the seed becomes sticky so when it finally lands back in the
ground after its journey it will stick and not be blown away again. There it will sit until next year’s rains
cause it to germinate and start all over again – a classic annual plant.
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| Nogah Hareuveni z"l |
In Hebrew it’s called
Savion for exactly the same reason.
Savion is a play on the word Sabah, Hebrew for grandfather. I love how here in Israel everything is so
generational and family orientated.
Instead of just calling it an old man, it becomes a grandfather, which
is much more endearing. When guiding
Israeli school children they are excited and proud to spot the ‘grandfathers’
along the paths.
This blog was
originally inspired by a monthly flower blog written in Hebrew by Dr Sarale
Oren for the Neot Kedumim Park website and facebook page. Sarale has been a huge inspiration for me
over the years and has taught me much of what I know. When I looked up her blog on the savion I
found these two wonderful photos. One of the savion with a full head of white hair
next to a photo of Nogah Hareuveni, z”l the founder of Neot Kedumim Biblical Nature Park, also
with a full head of white hair. He is
the founding father and ‘grandfather’ of all of us at Neot Kedumim. This month we were on the verge of closing
down due to a non functioning government and only just got a last minute
reprieve. This was a huge relief for all
of us who have worked there for many years and for everyone who believes that
it is one of the most unique sites in Israel. In fact the news that we can continue with
our work there was just like the little ray of sunshine that the savion brings.
Not to be confused
with:
ציפורן החתול - Calendula - Tziporen hachatul - Field Marigolds
This is slightly more orange than the stronger yellow of the savion. Also note that the leaves have clean edges, not serrated.
Photos by: Joanna Maissel because Yasmin the photographer was too busy!
