Regular visits to the Botanic Garden in El Bosque village allow us to see the plants as they change through the seasons. Mid June is the best time to see some of the parks endemics in full flower. Phlomis x margaritae is a hybrid shrub in the Sage family that occurs naturally on a mountain named Margarita - hence the plant name. This is placed in the “rupicola” section (rock gardens) at the highest point of the meandering pathways. It is a plant endemic to the Sierra de Grazalema park area, meaning that it is not found in the wild anywhere else!

In the same rock gardens and in full flower at this time of year are the orange blooms of the cliff dwelling Grazalema poppy (Papaver rupifragum) which although it was thought that this plant was exclusive to this mountain range it has also been recorded in Morocco. The delicate lemon flowers of Sideritis incana subsp occidentalis are easily overlooked on a mountain side and this again is only from the Grazalema area.

The sky was a beautiful deep blue and I love the combination of dark green trees and fresh white clouds against such a colour. Our progress around the gardens was slow as there is so much to see and photograph at this time of year. Even seed pods from plants that flowered earlier are very photogenic. The shaded areas beneath the mature trees were welcomed. On my first visits here I used to write the plant names that I wanted to learn onto a note pad, now I cheat and take a photo of the sign along with the plant pictures – so much quicker!

Thanks to Inés, who is the Educational Manager at the gardens, we had a peak inside the newly constructed building by the office and staff area. This will be a library open to the public for plant studies. The main room is beautiful with an intricate timber ceiling design, perhaps a little too elaborate but the room felt very cool and comfortable. The presently bare white walls are going to be decorated with pictures and posters of the seasonal changes in the plant world. I look forwards to being able to leaf through books that are too heavy and expensive for our own bookshelves.

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