Late this March we had our holiday, in Cyprus again. In fact we even went to the same hotel. It was not that the last was the best holiday we had ever had just that we were too tired to risk anywhere else and the first holiday there had been fine. So we went to Paphos again in the west of the island but this time hired a car so we could see more of the island. I have been meaning to post about the flowers for months but have not had a chance to accurately identify what I found. I won’t post about anything I am not sure about so the delay has been long. But I have given in and here are some photos of the Island and some plants. I will revisit them when I am sure what they are.

The wildflowers are one of the highlights of Cyprus in spring, especially the wild orchids. The flowers were wonderful this spring, in part because of the wet winter, which extended into out week away when we got caught in a thunderstorm and soaked on our last night – summer is more reliable if you want sun!

Aphrodite’s rock. This is where she is supposed to have come out of the sea.

Because Aphrodite is linked to love, if you tie a rag onto this bush you will apparently  become pregnant – having sex in the car park would be easier and more reliable I would have thought!

Gladioli growing in scrub by the coast

And a purple (parasitic) orobanche nearby

There are lots of cistus

in white and various shades of pink

and I was very taken with this legume that grew just above the splash zone at the beach – gorgeous leaves!

A white ranunculus grew everywhere, sometimes tinged lemon and sometimes pink

But more exciting still were cyclamen, here growing on rocks of an ancient quarry a stone’s throw from Kings Mall in the heart of Paphos

where they grew in every vertical crack in the rocks

and also by the sea where they must tolerate salt spray

But, of course it was the orchids that consumed us. Driving was almost impossible because in some areas there were flashes of mauve all over the place and I could not decide where to stop. This is just a tiny taste of more to come.

A large pile of stone by the side of the road was colonised by these cuties

and a clamber up a bank revealed innumerable flowers mimicking insects. We became so obsessed with climbing higher to see more that we realised we did not know how to get back down! Orchids have always fuelled obsessions.