I just wanted to report that I think anyone who likes plants and gardens
would just love Madeira! We would recommend it highly. The island is
volcanic so has some spectacular scenery, the people are very friendly and
kindly disposed and there is virtually no crime. We had time (we were
feeling v. lazy & took in Reid's garden from the cocktail bar terrace!) to
visit only two gardens but they're two of the most highly recommended. We
took the teleferique to the gardens at Monte but have to admit that we
weren't overwhelmed by them. They have the biggest collection of cycads in
the world (IIRC) but we're of the school that tends to feel "when you've
seen one......." etc. The situation is spectacularly beautiful in terms of
views and water running right down through the garden and from nearby you
can see the start of the famous toboggan run. We observed that but I
refused flatly to have anything to do with it!
The other garden we saw was the Blandy garden and that is just magnificent.
Sir Charles and Lady Blandy started it in the 1980s, I think and it has
hundreds of Camellias which must look wonderful in bloom. It has a wealth
of other marvellous plants, some semi-tropical, many of which we knew but a
few that we didn't. We'd never seen Eucalyptus ficifolia before and that's
a beautiful thing. I wonder if it would flower well here? There were
Leucodendrons and Proteas and all manner of luscious things - far too many
for me to list, so this link might give some indication:
http://www.madeira-gardens.com/index.html

They had somehow coiled Muehlenbeckia round the base of a tree to give a
lovely, fat cushion effect that was amusing and attractive and we just loved
the box topiarised into snails, pointing to different directions of the
garden - that was a very witty touch!
Strelitzias grow wild, as does the lovely Ipomoea and many other goodies but
island-wide, we were a bit surprised to see only two shrubby Echiums and no
E. piniana plus a lack of much of a range of Salvias.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/