One of the many places that we make sure we visit whenever we are in Madeira is their botanical garden. If Monte is great for staging, size, and atmosphere (but lacking in variety except for cycads), the botanical garden is a great complement to it due to the variety of plants that can be found in it.
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| Spikies and colourful bedding galore! I've given up waiting for that moment when no one was ambling along the view so this is the least populated photo I've managed to take. |
With the favourable temperate and year round spring like conditions for most of the island, plant specimens that not only thrive there, they get too huge proportions too!
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| Towering aloes. They are probably a good 20 feet or more so tall. |
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| As you enter the botanical garden this is the first view you'll see of this xerophyte section |
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| As you start walking into the paths things rapidly become more dramatic |
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| Gaz for scale |
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| No label, perhaps Yucca faxoniana? |
A few close ups...
They have an impressive collection...
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| Tourists can come in handy for scale purposes when Gaz has wandered off |
For all the shots with the blue sky as backdrop, not once did I had to squat. The plants really were that tall!
This botanical garden is well maintained except for one thing: their plant labelling. It has been gradually declining and on our visit very few have have labels on them.
But it's a minor inconvenience compared to how huge and dramatic a lot of their specimens are!
Mark :-)
This gardening blog follows our journey as we create our Tropical and Exotic themed garden. We hope you'll enjoy the journey as much as we do. We started our Exotic Garden in 2005 and this site will show its development, as well as our travels, both abroad and within the UK to gardens, nurseries and friends.
Gosh, Mark, that is a fantastic botanical garden! Great that you put in the photos with people as a reference point for the size of the plants. They are huge. I don't think that I have ever seen aloes that tall! I really enjoyed visiting this place through your post. It might have even inspired me to re-visit our local botanical garden... If I ever do, one thing is for sure though, it won't be as grand!
ReplyDeleteWishing you a wonderful week!
Christina
Thanks Christina! The big specimens there I presume won't be dissimilar to what Californians and Arizonans see locally :)
DeleteIt's a dramatic garden to be sure! I absolutely love that tapestry-style succulent bed in the second to last photo.
ReplyDeleteIt's the signature area of that garden. Makes me wonder how many years they have been doing that display!
DeleteWowsa! I think it's the Opuntia trees that I liked best of all.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not a safe place to slip and fall over :)
DeleteGlorious! What a paradise. No wonder you return again and again.
ReplyDeleteIndeed Peter :)
DeleteAwesome pictures of an awesome collection.
ReplyDeleteI think the 'No label, perhaps Yucca faxoniana?' is a Furcraea, possibly F.selloa. The leaf margin is serated where as in Y.faxoniana it 'peels' to leave free threads dangling from along the edge.
Chad.
Thanks Chad, more likely it is a furcraea as they also have so many majestic specimens of it in the island!
DeleteI could forgive the lack of labeling for the experience of wandering amongst those giants, spectacular! Wonder if the labeling is a funding issue, certainly should be a reliable feature of anywhere calling itself a botanical gardens.
ReplyDeleteIt could well be Janet. Several areas look like they are well maintained by a gardener but not by anyone else.
DeleteLooks like San Diego, Calif!
ReplyDeleteNot surprised Denise! :)
DeleteIt is beautiful!!!
ReplyDeleteIt is :)
DeleteDesert plants are certainly dramatic. With all the sharp thorns and spikes I doubt signs are needed to warn visitors to stay on the path! This garden has a marvelous variety. I love that first photo!
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