A Collection of Cacti

Quite some time ago I read about the Regev Cactus Nursery at Moshav Beit Elazari, a moshav in central Israel located three miles south of the city of Rehovot. My Dad is pretty green-fingered and keeps quite a collection of cacti in his home, so I knew that it was a place that I simply had to take him to on his next visit.

The Regev Nursery houses a collection of some 5,000 different types of cacti, plus many different kinds of trees, shrubs, roses, indoor and outdoor plants. The fish ponds, a beautiful Japanese garden, and a menagerie of birds and some sweet little jumping squirrels kept the kids entertained and happy.

According to the owner of  the nursery, the cactus collection is 50 years old and is the biggest in Israel. This seems entirely believable when you walk into the vast space of the nursery and see row after row of new plants, older, established ones and the nursery's private collection of positively ancient cacti which are there for us to see and enjoy, but not to purchase.

My Dad closely studied practically every plant, whilst the kids enjoyed the overall picture. They were keen to purchase their own cacti to keep on their desks and I can report that, one month later, they are still doing okay. I guess it's hard to kill a cactus!
The nursery recommends a visit in March, April and May, to see the cacti flowering in full swing. The visitors centre is open 7 days a week and you can arrange guided tours for a small fee, including explanations of the cacti, bonsai trees and the Japanese garden. We had our own expert with us in Dad and he did a fine job as our own personal guide.