
Nature is very present in the Algarve. There is a great biodiversity here and even in the middle of the summer, there is always a green background, wherever you look. One of the things that I instantly loves, was the smell here. The air is filled with aromas of wild herbs and flowers. Nature has something new to offer every month:
January: oranges are ripening, almond trees blossom.
February: Mimosa flowers
March: pear and plum blossom, lavender flowers, frogs, toats and swallows appear, the first cuckoo´s call announces spring
April: esteva (rock rose) flowers, poppies, daisies, orchids and wildflowers are abbundant. Orange trees blossom and release their perfume. The loquat (nespera) fruit is ready to eat. The bee-eater is busy.
May: time for the snales (caracois), apricots are ripening, pomegranate and olive trees flower. Wild herbs and many wild flowers.
June: oleander starts to bloom, nectarines and peaches are ready to be eaten. Cork harvest.
July: cork harvest. Ground vegetation is dry now.
August: carob pods harvest (alfarrobas), aromatic inula, figs, grapes.
September: pomegranates and almonds can be harvested
October: olives and medronho (strawberry tree fruit) are ripening.
November: chestnuts, fungi, olives and medronho are gathered after the first autumn rains.
December: bermuda buttercup, crown daisies, nespera blossom, medronho flowers