A Well Needed Rest

We have just returned from a holiday to Tenerife. I have never been before and I chose Tenerife because it had guaranteed sunshine (which was sorely needed) and I found a cheap holiday in a lovely hotel, flying from our local airport, 15 mins away, so this added up to to be a winning combination, well it would have been, if only I had been more impressed with Tenerife (we were situated down the south which was a bit touristy, the north of the island seemed much more to my taste) but it was fit for purpose, a nice rest!

On our travels around the island I saw some beautiful wild flowers, growing in the most inhabitable conditions. The island has a dormant volcano, Mount Teide, situated in the middle, which last erupted in 1798, so the soil is very poor especially around the volcano, which is mostly lava and with minimal amounts of rain I'm surprised anything grows.

I left written instructions with my children, on how to water my garden, especially the seedlings, whilst we were away and so when I returned, everything looked good. I had left my garlic and legumes outside to harden off, so they were planted into the beds on my return on Sunday.

The garlic had a good root system, so I am hopeful that I will have better success this year.

My new bed which has potatoes growing, now has legumes growing up wigwams of bamboo canes, has had the sandy soil improved by compost but it still isn't in the best condition. Growing legumes will help because they take nitrogen from the air and fix it to their roots, which will help next years plants.

This summer I am undertaking a photography project, with the consent of the National Garden Scheme, to photograph a number of gardens in Dorset, together with a portrait of the garden owners. 7 garden owners have given their permission and Sunday was the first garden I photographed.

It was totally amazing, a photographers dream. I need to edit the photographs, so in the meantime I leave you with some flower portraits from Tenerife. (Taken on my little Lumix)

Cactus Flower

Echium Wildprettii


Echium Wildprettii Flowers

Marigold

Pennisetum

Unknown pink flower



Unknown yellow flower growing in the lava fields