Introduction

1. Native plants of Jordan:

Jordan is blessed with a variety of beautiful native plants that are intrinsically tolerant to drought conditions. Because of their adaptability to arid regions, they are ideal for use in water conserving gardens and in the larger landscape context. They also provide other benefits such as affording habitat for native fauna. Moreover, native plants provide color throughout the year since their various species have different blooming seasons. Unfortunately, most of these plants are not yet commercially available at nurseries. In this context, it is imperative that these plants are not harvested from the wild and that those that are purchased be obtained from professional nurseries that have propagated them. Jordan has three geographic regions: the mountain plateau, the valley and the desert. Although the climate is mostly dry and hot, Jordan has a large variety of native plants that thrive in this type of environment.

Many flowering plants have adapted to drought conditions and therefore do not require a lot of water. Examples of drought-tolerant flowers include; the Palestine pheasant's eye, blooms March - May the perennial holly hock that blooms in Apr.- June the prickly alkanet, a perennial flower that blooms from Mar.-June The perennial common anemone, blooming Feb. - Apr.

Many of Jordan's native shrubs are specially adapted to the arid desert conditions. Native deciduous shrubs include the prickly shrubby burnet, the white broom and the milkvetch shrub. Evergreen shrubs include the spurge and the white rock-rose, both of which require direct sunlight. All of these shrubs require very little water Jordan has a variety of native perennial bulb plants that emerge from the ground after rainfall, Bulb plants include: Squill that flowers Aug.- Oct. Oporanthus, Sep.- Dec. Grape hyacinth Jan.- Mar. White polyanthus narcissus Dec. Jan.

General bioclimatic characteristics of Jordan

The climate of Jordan is predominantly of the Mediterranean type characterized by a cool wet winter and a dry hot summer with short transitional periods of spring and autumn. Climatologically, the country is divided into three distinct regions 1. The Jordan valley, 2. The highlands, and 3. The steppe and steppe desert.

Climatological elements
1) Temperature: there is a large variation in temperature from one region to another in Jordan. The Jordan valley and Aqaba are very similar in their temperature regime to the subtropical climate that are hot is summer and warm in winter. The climate in the highlands of Jordan is characterized by a mild summer and a cold winter. The steppe desert regions have a continental climate with large amplitude of temperatures. Topography seems to be the main factor controlling the spatial distribution of temperature.

2) Precipitation: Annual rainfall is very much related to topography, with the mountain region receiving the highest, and the steppe desert the lowest rainfall. Rainfall in the major agricultural areas ranges from 250 to 600 mm. Rainfall is erratic, irregular and highly variable, rainfall occurs mostly between Nov. - March. Rainfall: Heavy showers during late October usually mark the beginning of the rainy season. The annual rainfall averages 30-100 mm in the steppe desert and exceeds 800 mm in some areas

4) Wind:
5) Humidity: Relative humidity is fairly low during summer months. It is about 50% in the highlands whereas it is about 30% in the steppe.

Desert
Desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Deserts are defined as areas with an average annual precipitation of less than 250 mm per year, or as areas where more water is lost by evapotranspiration than falls as precipitation. Desert plants tolerate severe temperatures and yield brightly colored flowers. A desert can experience high temperatures above 50 oC & lows below -7 oC Desert plants can collect, store and retain water, flower and reproduce. The roots of the cactus don't tolerate "wet feet" and grow best in a well-drained soil. The stems of the cactus store the water they collect during the wet, winter months and provide the nutrients for the plant during the dry season. Cactus flowers are brilliant in color and bloom heavily during May and June.