The southern most province of mainland Portugal may be surrounded on two sides by the Atlantic Ocean but its climate and flora is decidedly Mediterranean. The spring flowers begin appearing the Algarve around late January, with the peak spring flowering season usually happening from mid March to late April. The hills and cliff tops are a blaze of colour at this time of year, but today I’m focusing on just one colour. It’s the colour of happiness, joy and friendship – perfect for Valentines.
This post is specially written for Jude of Travel Words who has fallen in love with yellow this month, and is encouraging us all to look for this colour in February. I think I may have found an abundance! So much so in fact it is difficult to quite know where to begin, but how about with a mustard shade of yellow which is a favourite of the bees in December and January. Often it is the sound of the bees which draws my attention to the fact that the cork oaks are in flower.
We love hiking in the Algarvian hills there is so much flora and fauna to discover and on some routes it is rare to see another human in sight let alone close enough to talk to! The meadows are stunning in the late spring, and so very yellow.
To really appreciate the Algarve’s incredibly rich and diverse wild flowers though you need to get up and close and personal. And when I am not distracted by a bird that is something I happily do on our walks. It probably explains why we can take hours to explore just a few miles sometimes. The joy of slow travel!
I have labelled every photograph so click on the galleries if you want to know what anything is, or at least the family or genera. If anyone is looking for a yellow flower in the Algarve which is not pictured here then do check out this floral post which provide some great flower identification links as well as some flowers of a different colour!
Not all of the flowers in this post are native to the Iberian Peninsular. The Australian mimosas, Hottentot fig and Bermuda Buttercup have all been introduced. These may look as pretty but they are all considered invasive species as they will take a hold of an area, smothering and suffocating native plants. Some have arrived by accident, but many of them have been introduced deliberately.
Some introductions fortunately are less invasive, and I cannot really imagine the Algarve without its oranges. In late spring the scent of the orange fields is quite wonderful, almost as fabulous as the scent of almond trees in blossom. The first citrus fruits arrived in Europe in the 9th century, but apparently it was not until the 15th century that sweet oranges were planted.
There are so many shades of yellow once you start looking and it seems that every genera has at least one yellow member. It is such a great colour, even the butterflies agree!
I probably could keep going with my yellow collection for a few more galleries, if not pages. However you are probably feeling a bit overwhelmed now by all this glorious yellow. So I am going to finish with something artistic, and return to searching in my archives for those promised levada walks. I have only found one so far!
Yes, the yellows. I find these seem to all come out at a similar time! Think may have missed them this year so good to catch up with you. For some reason I have missed your Algarve repostings but glad you have so much to keep you connected.
You’ve been so busy today reading through them all. Thank you so much for making the time. 🥰
Relaxed in Portugal!
I’m envious!
so beautiful dear Becky B. I love yellow colour in nature… Thank you, Love, nia
Oh Nia, thank you so much 🙂
All very pretty and cheerful. In Australia, we call mimosa wattle and the golden wattle is our national floral emblem. It flowers in August in the depth of winter and always looks beautiful in the bush.
In the right place it must be a perfect shrub/tree to have, I can see why it has been taken around the world
It’s highly allergenic so better suited to the bush than home gardens. It’s beautiful in flower.
so many plants introduced to the Algarve seem to be allergenic
Your photos are such a delight to the eye, Becky. 😍
Awww thank you so much 🙂
A great collection of yellows and I love those crown daisies, they look really pretty 🙂
They’re one of my favourites ❤
Oh I want summer like that to appear today 😀 😀
Oh you so must at the moment. Any signs of the ice thawing yet?
Actually the ice thawed last night. it stayed above freezing. We got out today and the damage in town looks like we were hit by a tornado. So many trees are down. The Redwoods even though they are huge faired the best. Fortunately, because one coming down could take out many houses. We had a couple huge trees within a block or so come down. I’ve got tons, okay maybe not tons, of photos. We are both exhausted beyond belief. For gas stations are stores, restaurants (fast food places) that are open the lines were so long. I looked into one of our big grocery stores and their shelves were nearly empty. No deliveries and frozen/refrigerated foods had to be tossed. It is now raining and lightly windy.
Oh my Cee, sounds absolutely dreadful. Not surprised you’re exhausted, cold is so debilitating. Hope warmer weather returns properly and that things begin to return to normal quickly. Sending hugs 🤗
What a cheerful post! All that yellow is fantastic. Thanks for labeling all the flowers-it helps those of us who don’t know them all. Yellow is such a warm and happy color.
Oh I am so happy you enjoyed this post, and labelling everything was a great reminder for me. I always forget flower names!
What a collection of yellows. That made me smile…a big smile indeed! Thanks Becky for sharing!
Yay, so glad it has made you smile. It is such a great colour isn’t it 😀
Yes it is!