Priscilla King shares her garden inspired adventures found within the city of Funchal, on the Portuguese island of Madeira.
"The weather in Funchal, Madeira is semi-tropical and the gardens are spectacular 365 days a year. Madeira is an extinct volcano, and the soil is perfect right along with the weather. There are beautiful gardens all over the island. The fruits and vegetables are amazing! Note the picture of one of the many types of avocado trees producing fruit. These pictures were taken at the Municipal Park and Tropical Gardens of the Monte Palace, very near where the toboggan baskets can whisk you down the side of the mountain. We opted for the cable car instead!"
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Comments
What a wonderful, exotic setting! And a garden that would be beautiful anywhere.
Beautiful! You must have a perfect climate.
Do you have any pictures showing the toboggan baskets going down the mountain? Tell us more about that!
I'm sorry Dee, I'm afraid I don't have pictures of the toboggans in motion. We decided the cable car would give more panoramic views of Funchal and it did, although it was somewhat foggy up that high. I'm sure a web search will give you plenty of information about the toboggans as they are a main tourist attraction and the line to board one that day was very long!
I just looked at some videos of the tobogans on YouTube and felt like I had taken the ride myself! Check it out!
Thanks, Priscilla, for sharing photos of your adventure. Beautiful mountainous terrain with lovely terraced gardens. I went on Google Maps to look at other photos of the island. Nice start to the day.
Crazy amazing. Quite a garden environment. Thanks for sharing.
What a great place. The toboggan baskets were not what I expected. After reading up on them, I think I would have taken one. The garden is very beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Wow! Just wow! Amazing.
Priscilla, thanks for sharing your pictures of this semi-tropical paradise. The idea of living or visiting a volcano, even an extinct one, would have me walking on eggs! Beautiful gardens, paths. What would any of us do for THAT hardscaping!
My, oh, my, talk about color blocking...that second picture makes quite a visual statement. Do you happen to know what some of the plants were used in the composition? Love the statuesque agave and the super picturesque arched bridge columns practically elicited a "drool" response. Thanks so much for sharing the photos.
I don't know what the plants in the color blocking are as we didn't get any closer to it than the picture shows. We were on a guided tour and it didn't take us down to that level. I'm guessing it is coleus that is kept very trim and not allowed to flower, but I don't really know for sure.
Yes, coleus came to my mind as I looked at those particularly strong chartreusy rectangles and curved blocks.
I'm a sucker for birds-of-paradise so you had me at the first picture. And I love the shot looking down at the tree ferns from the bridge. What a wonderful looking garden!
Then you would LOVE Madeira! Birds-of-paradise are literally everywhere you look. Those and anthruiums must be the official "plants" of Madeira. I've never seen so many.
What are the guys doing in the last photo? What a gorgeous place to visit. What time of year we’re you there and what was the temperature like? I didn’t read the caption before I looked, so I thought this was your house! Lol!
How lovely to see another part of the world. I especially appreciated the old stone columns and architecture. Thanks for sharing
This looks like a great adventure. There’s nothing better than finding beautiful gardens while traveling. I especially like the photos where you’re looking down on the gardens. Love anthuriums and all of their many forms. Thanks for sharing, Priscilla.
I enjoyed Madeira....Had two gardenmagazine covers from that garden! Rode the crazy downhill basket rides...and got pickled on Madeira at the tasting place! Alll in all a great placae to visit !!
What an adventure Priscilla! Iam so excited to see your trip! I will be going in march of next year. I heard that there will be camillias is bloom then. Did they have a lot of dinners with sardines? My favorite from the mainlands. I cant wait to see the arch and ferns too. That is a great shot you took. Did you get to see the farmers market? I think iam going to try the basket ride down the hills! Why not! Did you go to any of the other islands? Thanks so much for sharing!
Looks like an interesting and amazing place. Thanks for sharing.
Wow, definitely on my next to visit park and garden list. Thanks for sharing Priscilla!
Glorious exotic plants, Priscilla, and I love those stone arches and columns!
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