@sangel - Welcome to the forum! Those are gorgeous! I never saw them - probably never got to the right spot at the right time. Israel's come a long way about environmental protections -- hope it continues in the right direction (unlike our U.S. current situation!)
I've got a totally different flower (non-iris) stuck in my brain, though. Do you ever get down to the Negev after rains? I was in Sde Boker in the '70s and remember this gorgeous wild flower - looked like a flowering onion or lily (what did I know then/what do I know now?!). Large, round flower head (actually, lots of little flowers arranged in the round head). Phenomenal, very sweet fragrance (so probably not an onion). It had thorns or spikes on the flower head. I've always been dying to know what it is. I've tried emailing folks at the field station but never got an answer....
