Luxurious Pride of Madeira Flowering Plants Dot Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget
A flowering plant that I have come to equate with comfortable living is the drought-resistant Pride of Madeira flowering plant whose home region is the Portuguese island of Madeira. You can see photogenic Pride of Madeira plants all around Pebble Beach, California, especially along 17 Mile Drive.
The purple cone shaped flowers on this plant are about 6 to 8 inches long. The plant itself can grow upward and outward 6 to 8 feet in each direction.
Pride of Madeira flowering plants have an important economic value in Monterey County California as plants liked by bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. All three of these species pollinate agricultural crops and vineyards in Salinas and Monterey County.
Bees create honey, which has anti-oxidants that rid the body of free radicals, which may cause cancer. Darker honey has more free radicals.
Pride of Madeira plants also help attract Monarch butterflies to the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in Pacific Grove next to Pebble Beach. Docents at this sanctuary explain the difference between male and female butterflies and the Monarch butterfly life cycle among other facts. The Monarch butters typically migrate between October to March.
There is a large and very photogenic Pride of Madeira plant by the post office in Pebble Beach (by the exit onto 17 Mile Drive exactly) for souvenir photos.
To identify the Pride of Madeira flowering plant, I used the Google lens app. You photograph an object in this app and then ask what it is to bring up a list of characteristics.
I have included a photo from plantmaster.com for sightseeing reference below:
https://plantmaster.com/plants/eplant.php?plantnum=24372
Happy Garden Strolling!
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games
