Algarve (Portugal) holiday

Sounds like a wonderful holiday Sheila. Welcome back.

Thank you Klahanie . . . yes, it was good. I shall try to catch up on GoY's photos and blogs soon!

Lovely colourful blog Sheila ... I think your mystery flower may be Osteospermum 'Whirligig' with those tiny spoon- like flowers ... really pretty. This is the second blog about the Algarve on GoY recently and my OH is desperate to return ... but I've gone right off the thought of flying so he's trying to change my mind! We used to stay at Alvor ... were you anywhere near there?

Thank you for sharing your holiday photos with us, looks as if you had a great time.

Thank you Shirley - and for the ID - clever you, that sounds good. We weren't far from Alvor, but west of Lagos, in Luz. I'd seen photos of the wild flowers at Cape St Vincent, but the flowers above Praia do Castelejo (on the west coast) were even better!

I agree about the flying: we both hated the journey, and have really started to wonder if it's worth doing any more :(

What a lovely holiday you have had Sheila.,and such a varied array of wild flowers.you have captured them so well :o). plus the benefit of warm sunny weather ..Your villa looks beautiful,and the pool so inviting..did you go in it by any chance? We keep saying we will go to Portugal,but somehow,we never get round to it..I'm not keen on flying anymore either,but I don't hate it.I just find it boring ,but it's worth the effort when you reach your destination.. Almost four weeks,to go,and we will bored again :o)
I have just seen the title of your second blog,and I'm intrigued.I'm going to see what it's all about now :o) x

Sheila, on one of our visits to Alvor we had booked a guide to show us the wild flowers of the Algarve and were so looking forward to it. The evening before, he rang the hotel to say it would just be ourselves and he was cancelling due to lack of numbers so we took off across the cliff tops to Praia da Luz and loved it! Wild Lupins and so many Butterflies ... just wonderful! :o)

I am in total agreement re. Flying. I absolutely hate it more and more as time goes on. Hate airports, hate turbulence(makes me very sick) and hate the claustrophobia, bad aircon and poor air pressure regulation. Its either freezing or airless, and theres always somebody kicking me in the back or cackling in my ear. I try to avoid it nowadays....as much as I possibly can! So...thanks for sharing your lovely photos Sheila...you've saved me at least one. Trip! ;)

Very pretty wild flowers, lovely to see them. Looks as if you had a really lovely holiday.
We were there in March and got a lot of pleasure from the variety of wild flowers. It was sunny but the air was still cold! I do like it there for many reasons.
I love the view on the last photo.

Thanks Siris.

Thank you Sandra - you're very kind. Yes, we swam in the pool every day because it was heated - wonderful! This was our fourth visit to Portugal over the years . . . always somewhere in the south. The people are so friendly, the scenery is great, and the food and wine marvellous. So I think you're right - it is worth the effort, after all the memory of the journey soon fades, whereas the memories of the lovely places we visited will last us.

Shirley - I'd forgotten about the wild lupins!

Thanks Karen and Chris for your comments.

Hi Julia - thank you. We love France too, such a variety of different landscapes to explore! I think our favourite was in the foothills of the Pyrenees.

Did yu get an ID for that climber Sheila?

Yes Karen - I put a different photo on Questions: a couple thought it might be Ficus benjamina, but then Tugbrethil said it's the variegated form of Bower Vine, Pandorea jasminoides. It was certainly rampant!

I expected a quiz here Sheila: "Name that flower"(Latin name only)
Although it probably would not be too difficult for some gardeners :-)

Yes Klahanie - it does look a bit like that. Normally I would put names to my photos, but we were told that several were only found in Portugal and we didn't have a local wild flower book for identification . . . if Landgirl ever sees this blog she could probably name most of them :))

Sorry. I did not mean to critique Sheila, I thought it would be fun guessing. Is Landgirl a GOY member ?

And I didn't mean to sound defensive - I certainly did not think your comment was critical, Klahanie. (it's tricky sometimes when no intonation is possible with the written word!). Yes, Landgirl is a member of GoY with extensive knowledge of plants.

Great! Would that be hardy in your parts? It looked a bit like some form of Jasmine, but nothing I'd ever seen before. Lovely though, and hardy evergreen climbers aren't that easy to find. I always think that an evergreen climber for a shady spot is just about the hardest thing to find....Ivy or Hydrangea seemanii, or Fatshedera lizei and thats about your lot!

I'd never heard of it, Karen, but it obviously likes the Mediterranean climate. I think Clematis armandii is an evergreen climber, but may be wrong!

Yes, thats true. It needs a sheltered spot up here. I had it in my first garden, which was sheltered, and it was badly knocked back in a cold winter. Lovely plant though...if you have space for it.

Thanks Sheila - wouldn't we all love to be there right now?! Warmth and sunshine do make us feel better . . .