Madeira Plants

View from our 'eyrie' above Funchal

GirlsGardening decided it was time for a change of scene and went in search of new and exotic flora on the lush Portuguese island of Madeira.

Although spring might be the most popular time to come and admire its wide range of flowering plants, there's still plenty of vivid colour to excite the eye in October.

African senna
Senna didymobotrya

Garden Flowers

A plant like this striking African senna, for instance, was making a fine display in the gardens around our apartment.

It's a shrub I've not seen before, which can grow to several meters and has rather glabrous, dark brown buds contrasting with the yellow petals beneath. Here the shrubs were kept to a reasonable size but they can get out of hand in certain environments.

There's so much verdant greenery in Madeira that flowers of any colour - particularly red - appear to sing out with a luminous intensity.

Princess Flower

Another attractive plant in our garden was the Princess Flower or Glory Bush (Tibouchina urvilleana), originally from Brazil and producing rich violet blooms.

As if that wasn't enough, we noticed that some of its soft, felted leaves had turned a bright autumnal orange, complementing the scarlet flower buds.  Very exotic!

Tibouchina urvilleana

We soon became aware that a small team of gardeners was keeping our terraced hillside in immaculate order, trimming and dead-heading these fast-growing shrubs, constantly removing any obvious weeds from the fine red soil. To garden in Madeira requires a strong pair of legs, at the very least!

Thunbergia grandiflora aka Blue Thunbergia

Twined over an archway leading to the restaurant, we regularly walked beneath a lovely example of the Laurel or Bengal Clock Vine with its profusion of sky blue trumpets.

Although this vine originated in Asia, the RHS have given it an award of merit as a plant to be grown under glass in more temperate climates.

Aloe arborescens
- helping to colonise the steep hillsides

Having worked alongside prickly aloes in the past, I'm not sure I'd choose to plant any of these spiky fellows in my tropical paradise!

Not called Sword Aloes for nothing, these spiny-toothed succulents are found all over the island and send up sensational crimson blooms similar to red hot pokers. They're fabulous unless you're the unlucky person who has to prune them...

Iron and tufa deposits make a rich red soil

Madeira's volcanic terrain has much to do with the type of planting around the island.

The well-maintained terracing is very reminiscent of the Far East, where every inch of fertile soil is put to good use and a typical family plot will be stepped on several levels.


Agriculture

At this time of year, the main crops in evidence were sugar cane, bananas, tomatoes - and grapes, of course, for making that excellent fortified wine which is still a major export. (Table wine isn't half bad either.)

View of bananas from cable car
en route to Monte - and its
famous tropical gardens.

Their small but beautifully-formed bananas were a perfect size for cutting up on one's breakfast cereal, but we were shocked to hear that they're not exported to other EU countries because the size/shape doesn't confirm to regulations. (How mad is that?)

They're grown on terraces around the capital, Funchal, and bushy plants line the roadside all the way up to hilltop perches like Monte. It's worth taking the cable car up to this village for a bird's eye view of villas, farms and cultivation in general.

When travelling around hairpin bends by car, it's nigh impossible to stop and photograph these impressive ledges!

Eucalyptus trees have been drafted in to stabilise the fragile soil further up the mountainsides. They grow quickly and their essential oils can be extracted as another way of earning revenue.

But in hot summers the trees can easily catch fire from the odd discarded piece of glass and we saw ample evidence of burnt timber when driving north into the hinterland.

Up on the high plateau, the landscape is more sparse and the climate cooler.

Amaryllis belladonna

In autumn roadsides are lined with bright pink clumps of Belladonna lilies - also known as 'Naked Ladies' because their leaves die down in spring so their flower stalks come up bare. 

The lilies in this picture were on show in the tropical gardens at Monte but those we admired on the roadsides had darker, more dramatic stems and were in larger clumps.

Amaryllis have hefty bulbs - like that other ubiquitous Madeiran flower, the Agapanthus - and these too are used to bind the soil and prevent erosion.

Ceiba pentandra or Kapok Tree

Kapok Trees

Down in Funchal town, we kept coming across specimen trees with canopies of pink blossom. Upon closer inspection, these weren't so much blossoms as individual flowers, striped inside like lilies with a thick central style and stigma. The Kapok tree was new to us both...

Kapok Tree or Silk Cotton Tree

Again, this is something which produces flowers without leaves, adding to the stunning effect. It's native to tropical rainforests and the fruits produce a seed hair-fibre known as kapok - used for stuffing cushions and soft toys when I was a child. 

We both agreed that this tree was one of the best discoveries of our holiday and wondered what it would be like when kapok pollen exploded across the streets of Funchal ...

But, away from urban life and tourist intrusion, there still exists a magical remnant of the original island.

Trees in the Laurisilva forest

The laurel forest of Madeira (also called Laurisilva) is now a protected UNESCO World Heritage site and well worth a visit, even if you're just travelling across the island en route to the north coast, as we were. Much of it is at high altitude and largely untouched by man.

The ancient trees and mossy landscape, adorned with ferns and drenched in mist, make you feel as if you've stepped into another world. Truly mysterious, and possibly quite scary if you got lost...

A monochrome rain forest, forever shrouded

Monarch butterfly

Perhaps it was the wrong season for seeing butterflies as we only encountered one or two species, including this handsome Monarch which had taken a liking to hydrangeas in our garden.

We were told that Madeirans have almost stopped using pesticides and, as a result, the insect population has increased noticeably in the past couple of years - a fact which can only be good for biodiversity.

Finally in our journey, we reached the north coast of the island and enjoyed an excellent fish lunch at a former whaling port which now capitalizes on its dramatic lava rockpools, turning them into naturally warm swimming areas for tourists.

Protected pools at Porto Moniz - where you can still be
splashed by the great Atlantic rollers!