ANEMONIES BY ZELDA DVORETZKY

In Vermont, people go “leaf peeping” in the Fall, driving through chilly October

days to watch the trees turn from green to glorious red, gold, ocher and every

shade and color in between. In Texas, people flock to the Hill Country in the

spring to rejoice in the riot of Bluebonnets - wildflowers that carpet the slopes

with a gentian blue so vivid it rivals the skies. Wordsworth’s “host of golden

daffodils” grace England’s hills and dales as well as anthologies of beloved poems.

 
 
Many places on earth display nature’s bounty of beauty. 

In Israel, we have  Anemonies, called here, Calaniot. 




The number of varieties of wildflowers in this small country is too great to count, but the

Calaniot,  in their season,  overwhelm the senses with their profusion of deep red petals.


They are particularly vivid this year, thanks to an unusually wet winter. It is against the law to

pick them; Israel’s self-renewing wildflowers are a national treasure to be cherished and

preserved.

Zelda Dvoretzky was born in New Jersey and grew up in New York. She earned degrees from City College of New York and the University of Michigan, after which she wrote copy for the electronic and print media, and worked in public relations, editing and teaching. She retired to Haifa in 1997, is a member of Haifa Writers, Israel, an organization of writers of poetry in English, and the Haifa Chamber Choir. Zelda stays busy learning Hebrew, teaching English, and keeping in touch with grandchildren, family and friends in Texas, California, and, of course, Haifa. zeldahaifa@gmail.com