Frangipani

On our last full day in Madeira, most of us went for afternoon tea at the Reids Garden Hotel. It was delicious! Darjeeling tea, followed by sandwiches, a scone with jam and cream, and if you had room, four little cakes.

Before that we had a tour of the gardens, which were started before the hotel opened in 1891. Mr Reid was Scottish and decided to build a hotel and gardens. He imported the soil from Scotland, which is seen as odd as volcanic soils are so fertile, but he was paying. Sadly he died before the original hotel was opened, but his gardens were finished. There are over 2,000 species now, and I especially liked this one for my Blip. Beautiful petals against green leaves and a deep blue sky - Frangipani or Plumeria.