Flower Power

This is the time of year on La Palma when wild flowers are popping up everywhere in all colours.  April is when the action starts to get going (if you don't count the months building up to it) and nature is still on a roller-coaster of colour as we zoom into May.
Whilst each year is a little bit different with certain flowers being more prominent, a good old faithful is one that never ceases to amaze me although I guess it is not strictly wild. I see that I wrote about it last year as well - little wonder with its perfect little parasols of shocking purple!

 

Another plant that I really appreciate grows steadily throughout the year, slowly and silently spreading itself across the ground or down a wall, all along hoping you won't notice. It's a succelent plant which means that basically it doesn't care if it gets water or not.  This is my type of plant.   It then produces wonderful pale lemon flowers seemingly from nowhere and then of course it's too late to cut it back because you can't bear to cut the flowers off. 

Then there is a variation of the sweet pea.  My previous experience of growing them in the UK was that it took plenty of patience to first get them growing and then make sure they followed the appointed path up bamboo canes.  From there, with luck, they would make a colourful show.
Here on La Palma, they grow like plants posssessed!  Great tumbling and billowing clouds of them line the donkey path at the side of the finca but - to be honest - they don't do much harm there.  However, they are not content with that but want to envelop anything else they can find such as our lovely white wild rose which is in full bud at the end of the path. 

But my final salute is to the wild poppy.  It strikes me as being such a brave little flower with its 'hey, here I am' bright red colour.  And yet, when you come to inspect it more closely, it is in fact the most delicate of flowers with not a robust petal to its name.  For sheer simplicity, to me, it's a winner. And that's my reason for letting it grow (almost) wherever it likes on the finca here in Franceses.

Poppies in paradise

One of the most wonderful times to visit La Palma is in the spring when the wild flowers jostle with each other to gain your attention. The Flor de Mayo is one of our greatest stalwarts standing half a meter tall with a mass of miniscule purple petals. Having first started way back in October, it is well worth the wait as they regally line the garden walls and fill every flower vase in the house.

But in the main, the rest of the gang like to keep you guessing whether or not they will be putting on a show. And then, all of a sudden it seems that La Palma has had busy fingers in the paint box. Terraces are wildly painted in flowers of yellows and purples. Great tumbling piles of sweet peas in stunning magenta fall over themselves with enthusiasm at the sides of quiet paths. Geraniums left unattended to please themselves cascade down the slopes in pinks, purples and reds.

My favourites though are the poppies which are simplicity in spun silk. Such a gentle flower, all they ask for is a little space and peace. They would rather grow in with the carrots where they won’t be bothered too much by all that noisy jangle of colours. Or they will pick a separate place in an empty flower bed or at the side of the road where they can watch the show from a distance. But they are tender little souls which are happy to be left alone so admire them before you carry on and let them nod to you as you go.