Springtime walking in Andalucía.
By Julia Hill
Deciding which of our walks to take is usually driven by the usual hiking parameters of length, ascent, weather, views, and the time required. Additionally, when walking with Phil, there is always the added element of the quality of the tapas bars in the vicinity of the chosen route!
Springtime in Andalucía brings another additional factor for me: the location of the elusive Bee Orchid and all the other beautiful wildflowers that appear in March and April.
Do I go for the tried and trusted walk where I can pinpoint exactly where the orchids usually appear, or try a new route in the hope of seeing them in different locations?
This year, the decision has proven to be easy, as I have spotted numerous wildflower varieties on all of our walks. The weather patterns over the last few months have made it an ideal environment for many species to flourish, but my favourites are the orchids.
Appearing in tried and trusted locations where I have seen them in previous years, but also in new places where the conditions are perfect; in well-drained but nutrient-poor soil.
Here are some of my orchid spottings over the past few weeks: luckily, they have quite a long flowering period, so I have been able to share them with all our recent walking guests.
Bee Orchid (pics 1 and 2)
This beautiful little yellow orchid was spotted at the side of our path on four recent walks. There are more ornate orchids, but this is my favourite because of its striking simplicity.
Sawfly Orchid (pic 3)
The common name of this orchid refers to a supposed resemblance to the sawfly, a wasp-like insect. I think it is much more beautiful!
Mirror Orchid (pic 4)
On one of our walks, we spotted a single and then a whole group of them on another outing the following week. The orchid is pollinated exclusively by the Dasyscolia Ciliata wasp. The males are attracted to the flower because it resembles the female wasp. The blue mirror-like patch on the orchid apparently looks like the sky's reflection on the female wasp's wings.
Over a four-week period, I spotted 23 different wildflowers, and the choice of the route became less important as their blooms appeared everywhere we walked. What did become apparent is that we needed to add an hour to every walk just to make sure that we had enough time to appreciate the flowers and take pictures of them!
All these pictures were taken on an iPhone. Some of our guests use a plant identification app, but I prefer to search through my trusty copy of Wildplants Of Southern Spain by Tony Hall over some tapas and a café sombre. Here are a few non-orchid plants that I spotted on our walks; see if you can work out what they are (pics 5, 6, 7, and 8).
Spring is a fabulous time to walk in Andalucía, and if you love wildflowers, the best time to book a walking weekend with Phil is from mid-March to the end of April. We can never guarantee that all the species above will be spotted, but there are always other beautiful plants waiting to be identified. If you have been inspired by this article, I look forward to seeing you walking in the spring.
