Plants of The Eastern Mediterranean Jordan 9th- 16th March 2020 Mediterranean Garden Society RHS & Merlin Trust Bursary Report Rosie Treharne FdSc Landscape Design, RHS Level 3 Creative Garden Design & Maintenance 1 Contents Aims and Objectives 3 Itinerary 4 Introduction 5 Map of Jordan 6 Main Report: Tues 10th March Madaba City; The City of Mosaics 7 Wednesday 11th March: Madaba, Wadi Shu’eib to Jerash 8-11 Thursday 12th March: Jerash, Ajloun and Dibeen Forest 12-16 Friday 13th March: Jordan Valley to The Dead Sea 17-19 Saturday 14th March: Little Petra and Shobak 20-21 Concluding Thoughts 22-23 Budget Breakdown 24 Acknowledgements 25 References 26-28 2 Aims and Objectives My aims for this trip to Jordan were: • To gain insight into plants of the Eastern Mediterranean, expanding upon a personal interest in Mediterranean plants, by observing the flora of Jordan including widespread species such as Anemone coronaria and Ranunculus asiaticus as well as rare and endemic species such as Orchis galilea and the rare Oncocylus Irises. • To gain a better understanding of the harsh, native conditions in which Mediterranean and desert plants thrive in order to select site appropriate plants when designing planting schemes. • To inform and inspire my selection of plants for clients, when choosing plants for hot, dry seemingly inhospitable sites such as sun-baked banks, rockeries and some coastal sites which necessitate tough and resilient plants. • To learn about the cultivation of exotic fruit in the desert and to share this experience with the productive and curatorial team at Rosemoor in which I previously worked. • To produce a written report to document the experience and to share the flora of Jordan with the RHS and Merlin Trust as well as with members of the Mediterranean Garden Society, clients, colleagues and friends. • Writing to fulfil bursary guidelines, I have aimed to write a report which is hopefully accessible, readable and interesting not only to those in professional horticulture but hopefully to a wider audience as well. I hope to share this report with MGS members, colleagues and clients. So, whilst I have focused on horticultural aspects, in endeavouring to write an authentic report, I felt that it was relevant to include certain cultural and historical content which was an integral part of the experience. 3 Itinerary Day 1: Arrive Amman Airport, transfer to Delilah Hotel, Madaba (approx 45-minute Tuesday 10 journey) March 2020: Day 2: Visit nearby St George's church to see the 6th-century Byzantine mosaic map Wednesday 11 (earliest known map of Near East, with Bible landmarks especially Jerusalem). March: We then go via Mount Nebo to Wadi Shweb, having a picnic lunch on the way, and end our day with dinner at the Olive Branch Hotel in Jerash. Day 3: 12th-century Ajlun Castle, Wadi Orjan with its lush fruit orchards; restaurant Thursday 12 lunch in Jerash, then a choice of visiting either Jerash Graeco-Roman site or March: Dibbin Forest nature reserve. Dinner at Olive Branch Hotel. Day 4: Down out of the Mediterranean-climate area through the Jordan Valley to the Friday 13th Dead Sea; restaurant lunch at Amman Beach where there may be the March opportunity for a swim with its excellent facilities, showers, etc; drive on south along the Dead Sea, via Karak with its huge 12th-century Crusader castle, to dinner and stay at the Hyatt Zaman or Old Village Hotel at Petra. Day 5: A whole day in Petra, one of the world’s most amazing archaeological sites Saturday 14th that also has a good selection of plants and wildlife. A tour of the ancient site, March lunch at the restaurant within the site; maybe an 800-metre horse ride; afternoon plant-hunting and bird-watching. Dinner back at the nearby hotel for a second night. Day 6: Little Petra (similar, smaller but beautiful, ancient site), then up into the Sunday 15th mountains through Shobak with its Crusader castle, and Dana a beautiful old March village on the edge of the Wadi Dana canyon. Then from Ras al Naqab we will drive down into Wadi Rum with the fantastic sandstone pinnacles standing in this tableland - still 900 metres altitude at the bottom of this "valley". Dinner and stay at Bait Ali camp (chalets). Day 7: Exploring the southern part of Wadi Rum for 4 hours, a couple of hours rest in Monday 16th the hotel, before going out again for another 3 hours in its northern part to March end with watching the sunset in the desert. The vehicles to be used are old 4x4s transformed by the Bedouins into “Safari Vehicles”. Dinner and stay at Bait Ali again Day 8: Drive back north with more stops for flowers mainly the stunning, black Iris Tuesday 17th nigricans, lunch stop at a restaurant overlooking huge Wadi Mujib, before March driving down to cross it at the reservoir's dam, then driving up the east side. Dinner and stay at Delilah Hotel, Madaba. Day 9: Transfer to airport and depart. Wednesday 18th March 4 Introduction The Kingdom of Jordan is situated to the North of the Arabian Peninsula; once part of the Ottoman Empire, the country has been independent since 1946, but is an ancient land bearing witness to early civilisations, particularly prominent in Biblical history. Slightly smaller in size than Portugal, Jordan neighbours many countries; with Syria to the North, Iraq to the East, Saudi Arabia in the South and Israel to the west; separated from Palestine to the West by the Jordan River. It is considered to be the most liberal country of the Middle East with a commitment to peace and stability from its rulers, but is nonetheless affected by the complex issues of the region (Irvine et al 2020). Consisting of 3 phytogeographical regions; Saharo- Arabic, Irano- Turanian and Mediterranean, the habitats of Jordan are typically desert, semi-desert and Jordanian Steppe known as ‘Badia’. Plant communities within these habitats commonly exhibit high species diversity within complex plant ecosystems. The number of plants species found across Jordan is estimated between 2500- 2900 species and reflects the wide range of climatic and topographic conditions across the country (Kherissat, F & Al-Esawi, D. 2109) Jordan’s diverse range of flora, includes rare and endemic species, the most celebrated of which is the Black Iris; Iris nigricans endemic to Moab and Edom regions in the west of Jordan and disappearing rapidly as a result of development. Many plant species throughout are dependent on the winter rains; flowering in spring before the dry season arrives which can last up to 8 months from March to November. (Peri, O. 2015) The country’s 3 main physiographic regions are: • Desert: Comprising four fifths of Jordan’s territory the desert occupies the eastern and southern areas of Jordan, mostly within the Syrian Desert. • The Uplands: East of the Jordan River the uplands form an escarpment above the Rift Valley with average elevations between 6-900 metres rising to 1,754 metres at the highest elevation. • The Jordan Valley: Descending to 430m below sea level at its lowest point where the Jorden River meets the Dead Sea forming the lowest natural land on the Earth’s surface. Soils of the Jordan Valley are the most fertile with alluvium topsoils deposited by the Jordan River and washed from the uplands. (Irvine et al 2020) Our expedition would initially take us north west of Madaba to Jerash and Ajloun where conditions are predominantly Mediterranean; in this region steppe vegetation dominates with scrubby dense bushes and small trees. We then descended along the Jordan River down to the Dead Sea where conditions become more arid turning to desert. South of the Dead Sea we would visit Little Petra and Shobak in the desert. Our itinerary was due to include visits to the ancient city of Petra and the orchards of Wadi Rum but due to the outbreak of Corona virus the trip was cut short and we would ultimately miss these ancient wonders. 5 Map of Jordan Our route (marked in red): Travelling north of Madaba to Jerash and Ajloun, before following the Jordan Valley south to the Dead Sea, and beyond into the desert to Little Petra and Shobak, 6 Tues 10th March Madaba City: The City of Mosaics On our first day we explored the city of Madaba whilst other MGS members transferred from Amman airport. This ancient city, referred to in the Old Testament as ‘Medeba’, is known as ‘The City of Mosaics’ and as this name suggests is home to the world’s finest collection of early Christian art and mosaics which date from the 4th to 6th century AD (Visit Jordan 2020). Immersed into this busy urban jungle, with the call to prayer echoing gently in View of Madaba from the tower of St John’s Church the background, several plant species jumped out as we explored this city and its ancient art. In St John’s Church we clambered up the tower just before the midday bells rang out to enjoy expansive and breath-taking views across the city before descending to scramble through the crypt corridors beneath the building. Back at ground level in the Church courtyard a striking variegated Schefflera presumably S. arboricola stood out with handsome, dense, showy, palmate leaves. Another church visit took us to a mosaic workshop in the centre of Madaba; a project funded by a French charity working to equip Iraqi refugees with creative skills to forge a living. Outside the workshop I was curious to find a tree with graceful pendent grey foliage, studded with small pink berries which John Joyce kindly introduced to me as Schinus molle, a pink peppercorn tree, and as its name suggests its fruit is a more colourful alternative to black pepper.