Sandy, I went to Madeira in December 2000. The Botanic Gardens (Caminho do Meio, Quinta do Bom Sucesso, Funchal) are nice (spectacular views, excellent collection of palm trees) but most of their orchids are grown outdoors, and in late December they were suffering the effects of winter & looking very sorry for themselves.
The best spot is: Jardim Orqumdea (Rua Pita da Silva, 37, Bom Sucesso, Funchal). It is a family-run garden, hidden away on a cul-de-sac off a small side-street in a residential area just downhill from the Botanic Gardens and is quite hard to find .. I eventually got there by walked downhill from the Bot Gardens using my trusty Funchal street map (make sure you get one that has all the town in it, not just the town centre). The Jardim is a bit like Dr Who's Tardis; much bigger inside. I doubt they have 50,000 plants as the website boasts, but they do have a nice collection of plants that are healthy and well-grown. There is a collection of species (many of them fairly standard for northern-hemisphere collections) and hybrids (mostly Central and S. American), but many are at specimen-plant size and were blooming prolifically when I visited. I'm not very familiar with many of these American plants, and I really enjoyed the show. There is a large collection of hybrid Cymbidiums, some of which are extremely old crosses ... and these were in full bloom when I visited. The place is worth visiting. Also, try visiting the Central Market in Funchal. Madeira has long been one of the orchid-growing centres of Europe, producing spikes (mostly Cymbidiums) for the cut-flower trade. In the last few decades the Madeira orchid-flower industry has been surplanted by other places that produce more, better, cheaper, but there are still lots of Cymbidiums grown, many of which end up in the market. As is the case in the Jardim Orqumdea, what you see are mostly older crosses that will bring back nostalgic memories of the florist-shops of your youth (if you're old enough, that is !!!). One final tip ... try visiting a cemetery. There is a really big one on the hill above Funchal, but any large cemetary will do.... and there are several on the island. Yes, really, I'm not kidding ... if you want to see orchids used in a totally different context, visit a good cemetery in Madeira and don't forget to take your camera along. Peter O'Byrne Singapore _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids
