The gate to Ramat Hanadiv

For those of us who have lived in Israel many years, it is always a pleasant surprise to visit a location you haven’t seen for a long time.  Cecily Hanson recently organized a delightful trip to Ramat Hanadiv.   Not only Garden Club members enjoyed this outing. We were all impressed by the Nature Park and how it contributes to the Israeli community.  We began our tour with an excellent movie detailing how this park was established and its scope.

Ramat Hanadiv is located at the southern end of Mt. Carmel between Zichron Ya’akov and Binyamina.  It is dedicated to the memory of Baron Edmond de Rothschild.  This visionary contributor to our land is buried here with his wife Adelheid.  The Garden is a tribute to his heritage. 

It is organized along a winding path which displays a meticulously designed European garden filled with trees and flowers of many kinds.  From the peak of the Memorial Garden one can see the Mediterranean Sea, routes #2 and #4.  The path leads one into a special garden designed to attract butterflies.  Our guide, who has published a book and earned her doctorate on this subject, showed us several kinds of butterflies currently inhabiting this garden. It was planted with a variety of common plants like delphinium and primrose that one can find in almost any Israeli garden.  We continued on to the Horticulture Therapy Garden.  This project is unique.  Here a number of young mentally retarded adults learn to plant fruit and vegetables under the guidance of specially trained leaders.  They work at the garden five days a week and are treated as “part of the crew” in every way.  This activity has had a tremendous influence on their ability to cope with their individual problems.  Their gardens were innovative and designed by them for their own particular needs. 

Our tour continued past a huge natural organic compost “mountain” created by the garden staff. All the leaves, twigs and broken branches collected in the garden are shredded in a machine and layered in rows to decompose.  The pleasant smell was rich and fruity. There were many newly planted trees of every variety.  This garden replaced five thousand trees damaged by snow storms a few years ago and will be transferred to Jerusalem as the need arises.

We saw an interesting new type of grass.  It doesn’t need any cutting or much watering.  It is called Zoysia grass and comes from South Korea.  It forms low undulating mounds on the ground and is sensitive to being walked upon. 

My favorite garden was the Fragrance Garden.  This lovely area is planted with quisqualis indica, a hanging vine with tiny pink blossoms which frames the garden and its comfortable benches. Herbs and shrubs of many varieties are all carefully identified in Hebrew, English, Latin and Braille for the sight impaired. Each herb added its own delightful aroma to the garden.

There are many more activities which we will save for our next visit perhaps with the grandchildren, like bird ringing, walking with goats, concerts and lectures.      

Ramat Hanadiv welcomes visitors daily between 08:00 till 16:00 Sunday till Thursday, Friday until 14:00pm.  On Saturdays (the tomb plaza is closed) 08:00 - 16:00.  It is well worth a visit.