Tower of London superbloom in early Autumn

 In early July 2022 I went to the Tower of London superbloom, but I didn't pay to go in, I just looked down on the moat from the upper paths. It all looked very colourful. There was already a drought, with virtually no rain in London since May, and the drought continued, resulting in a hosepipe ban in several parts of the south of England, including London. There was also an intense heatwave with a record 42° C in London. This of course affected the flowers.

In Sept entry to the superbloom was free, as the flowers were past their best. So I went to have a look on 3rd Sept.

Looking down from the upper paths it looked as if there weren't many flowers left, and it was only when I went down that I saw how beautiful the flowers actually are. Photos from 9 July & 3 Sept -

The (optional) slide down to superbloom -

Namaqualand daisy

fly on the daisy

Cape Daisy

Cape Daisy, Arctotis fastuosa, also called Monarch-of-the-veld, is a species of African plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Namibia and South Africa.

Crimson flax

Corn marigold

Many of these plants are good for bees and other insects. Apparently there were more insects in the moat than humans in London. 

fly on a seed head

The Californian poppy is used to treat pain, anxiety, depression, migraines etc. Flowers have been grown at the Tower of London for medicinal purposes since 1603 when Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned here.

California Poppy, variety Mikado

African daisy

Mexican aster & bee

After September, the area will be mowed down. The seeds will drop and the area will also be reseeded and hopefully next Spring there will be more flowers.

Madeira flora

I visited Madeira for the first time and was really impressed by the amount of flowers and attractive trees all over the island. It was early June and several were past their best, but still provided a really pleasing display.

Madeira is an island off the west coast of Africa, west of Morocco. It is an Autonomous Region of Portugal. The island was formed by underwater volcanoes. Today the whole island is hilly and mountainous, there is hardly a patch of flat land! There are steep mountains cut by many valleys.

The island has enough natural waterfall. The north coast is particularly lush, as moisture laden clouds arrive from the Atlantic and as they rise above the mountains, they dump the moisture. There are lots of springs and waterfalls. There is lots of agriculture. In the past the levadas or water channels were built to carry water from the northwest and west to the drier southern side.

The majority of the flora on Madeira today is not endemic.

One plant that covers the whole island is Agapanthus, aka the Lily of the Nile, African Blue Lily, and African Lily. Agapanthus flowers bloom in large, round clusters or umbels of blue, white or violet-blue, 6-8" across and on a thick 2-4' tall stem. Note the bee in the 2nd photo -

On the Azores, it is the Hydrangea that dominates the islands. They were only in small quantities on Madeira, but some were very large. They were white or pale blue in colour.

Along the roadside on the northwest of the island -

In Funchal I particularly loved the African Tulip tree, aka Flame-of-the-forest.

More common are the tall Tipuana tipu trees, Pride of Bolivia, with their small yellow flowers. They drop their flowers like the Jacarandas.

Unfortunately the Jacaranda trees had already blossomed. However there were still a few young trees in some areas with the striking purple colour. They are originally from the Central and Southern Americas.

The main indigenous tree formed the Laurisilva or Laurel Forest, but most were cut down in the early days for buildings and boats etc. The surviving forests are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I didn't get any photos as we drove past . An endemic flower however is the Pride of Madeira -

These Angel's Trumpets, Brugmansia , originate from the South America area -

Oleanders or nerium are found all over the island. It is not known where they are originally from.

Bougainvillea are also quite widespread, originally coming from S America

There were lots of Hibiscus everywhere.

I don't know what the following 3 are -

Prickly pear flowers -

In the farmer's market I saw these fruit. I'd not seen the long green ones before, they are Delicious Fruit aka Adam's Rib, Monstera deliciosa, originating from S. America -