Jerusalem Garden Aims to Flourish

The Fellowship  |  February 7, 2020

The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens is full of endangered species and draws around 200,000 visitors a year, says the Times of Israel:

The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens is not a show garden with stretches of carefully cultivated beds of flowers. Rather, it is a scientific and research center, with some 400 species that are endangered, extinct, or rare. That makes it a destination for plant scientists around the world, who come to learn about the variety of species grown in Israel’s hot, arid climate. (There are areas of showy blooms as well — check the website for seasons and locations, and the plant of the month.)

There are seven full-time gardeners in the gardens, and 200 volunteers. A field school on the grounds of the garden offers high school students a place where they can study full-time. There are monthly programs and weekly workshops for kids, families and teenagers. Visitors can create self-guided tours for themselves of the gardens, based on the flora and fauna they want to explore, or be armchair travelers and look for a species online.