Why the Anemone Symbolizes the Resilience and Fragility of Israel

By Jill Brooke

In nature, red doesn’t necessarily mean danger but is a way to stand out and energize. Red sits opposite green in the color wheel which is a symbol for fertility and growth.

As writer Joanna Maissel explains, for residents of the South of Israel in towns bordering Gaza,  “Color Red” is a warning broadcast onto every street and into every household of an incoming missile or attack.

Therefore it is interesting and worth exploring how the calanit (crown red anemone) has become the national flower of Israel since 2013, led by a campaign held by the Society for the Protection of Nature.

The choice shows an understanding of both the complexity of the human experience and people’s resilience and desire for beauty and peace.

Maissel says the reason that Israel calls the calanit (crown anemone) its national flower is not only because it grows each spring on hillsides giving bursts of hope and beauty. It is also a symbol of resilience, possibility as well as growth.

“The residents of the Gaza border communities turned their besieged reputation around by producing a giant festival of red flowers every February at the peak of the calanit season,” explains Maissel.

“The flower (now) covers the country from North to South. The festival is one of the highlights of every Israeli’s calendar.  Hundreds of thousands of visitors flock to the fields to see carpets upon carpets of stunning red calaniot, a sight to be seen to be believed.  The local businesses provide local produce, picnic hampers, races and activities.  It is a true celebration of life in an area which has suffered much hardship.”

The calanit also played a crucial part in the pre-state years.  In 1945 the poet Nathan Alterman wrote a song called Calaniot about a young girl who gathers calaniot in a basket for her mother.

 “Storms will thunder and roar greatly
but the calanit will always bloom.”

The Israeli people have been avid and innovative farmers turning the desert into abundance. In fact, from the mid-1960’s, when there was no awareness of “protecting wildflowers, the calanit became a protected flower in Israel.”

Israel now is a major exporter of flowers including roses and wax flowers and one of the world’s largest exporters of citrus fruits. It is a leader in developing salination techniques. Companies like BioBee uses beneficial insects and mites for biological pest control, reducing the need for chemical pesticides.

Its grape vineyards have developed to become a world player in the wine industry.

Flowers as we know hold cultural stories and inspire.  Poppies, which also grow in Israel, became linked with sacrifice for a noble cause and are the flowers linked to military service for the greater good.

And since sometimes poppies look so similar to anemones, a story emerged to teach differences and appreciation of nuance.

“ In fact, there are three red flowers that flower throughout the spring starting with the calanit (anemone) followed by the nurit (turban buttercup) and ending with the pereg (corn poppy),” shares Maissel. “This actually helps because in English they flower in alphabetical order: anemone, buttercup and poppy. This also works in Hebrew and even in phonetic Hebrew: calanit, nurit and pereg. The calanit and the nurit are both from the same botanical family of buttercups while the pereg is a separate family.

“There is a lovely story I use in guiding (as do most nature guides in Israel) to help children differentiate between the three red flowers.”

Three princesses are invited to a ball. Unfortunately, when they emerge from their bedrooms in their finery they discover that they are all wearing the same red dress.  Every teenager’s nightmare!  Instead of throwing an immature hissy fit they confer and work out a solution.

Each of them will make a small change so that they can be different from one another.  Calanit (anemone) will wear a pearl necklace around her neck, Nurit (buttercup) will wear shiny red lipstick, and Pereg (poppy) will wear black earrings.  Problem solved and cooperation encouraged.

The calanit also holds other lessons in survival. The white ring (the pearl necklace) forms around the black center of the flower for a reason. “The flower head follows the rays of the sun so it has a permanent incandescent glow,” says Maissel. “This helps its survival as the rays heat up the black center by up to 10 degrees Celsius and so speeds up germination.”

And thus provides more flowers for the next season for people to enjoy.

In the language of flowers, anemones represent living in the moment. Because of their fragility, anemones also teach the importance of appreciating every moment while simultaneously being resilient.

To identify with the calanit’s vibrancy and renewal is a powerful reminder, especially for Israelis, that nature can nurture a nation’s soul.

Jill Brooke is a former CNN correspondent, Post columnist and editor-in-chief of Avenue and Travel Savvy magazine. She is an author and the editorial director of FPD and a contributor to Florists Review magazine.

Photo: Pixabay, Wikipedia, Joanna Maissel