Flowers Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Craig Rogers Photography

White Thistle Mystery Finally Solved…..Maybe.

7th June 20187th June 2018Craig Rogers

You may remember the photos of the Honey Bees on a Thistle from a few days ago. I couldn’t understand why the Thistles had flowered White and not Purple.

At the time, I ID’d them as Illyrian Scotch Thistles, however, I was wrong.

I was talking to my (Portuguese) Neighbouring Farmer and he insisted that they always flower white. I asked him what the Portuguese name is and he replied “Cardo”. This is Portuguese for Thistle, so I didn’t get anywhere. However, I was searching for references to Cardo and stumbled across the Cardoon Thistle (also known as the Artichoke Thistle).

This is what these are, however, most of the references also mention that the flowers are purple, so back to square one, why are they white.

I have found a few photos on the internet that show white flowers, one reference I saw mentioned the “Rare White Cardoon Thistle”. So although the mystery is solved, it does raise more questions about how common the white version is. If you see any one your travels, let me know!

Spot The Difference – Esteva Flowers

2nd May 20182nd May 2018Craig Rogers

Last year someone told me that there are two different variants of the Esteva plant (Portuguese name, not to be confused with the Stevia plant), commonly known in English as the Gum Rockrose. It was mentioned that there is a version that has no spots. I had never seen one until this morning, I’m certainly no plant expert, but it’s great when you stumble across something new.

The scientific name for the Esteva is Cistus ladanifer and the two sub-species are ladanifer and sulcatus. The landanifer has the purple markings where the sulcatus does not, however, they appear to be identical plants.

French Lavender Has Enjoyed The Wet Spring

30th April 201830th April 2018Craig Rogers

Did I mention that we’ve had a bit of rain in the Algarve this spring? I may have slipped it in on a few occasions!

Well, the wild flowers have enjoyed this unusual persistent deluge and none more so than the French Lavender. Not only is there far more than usual, the flowers are huge and is creating a stunning purple carpet across the landscape.

Barbary Nut Iris and The Bees

2nd April 20183rd April 2018Craig Rogers

All around the hills in the Algarve the Barbary Nut Iris has started to flower. I’m certainly no flower expert but it’s a great sight to see the purple flowers covering the landscape.

The odd thing about the Barbary Nut Iris is that the flower has a very short life, just half a day! It opens around Noon, closes at dusk and doesn’t open again. So it’s crucial the Bees do their job of pollination.

I set the camera up and focused on one flower, I used the 500mm lens and f/4 to create a very small depth of field and waited and waited and waited…….. The Bees were landing on all the other flowers except this one, typical. Then after about 30 minutes one finally came along and even stayed in the very small focus plane.

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