El Sueño Jardin Botanico

Last month we visited El Sueño botanical gardens in Spain. El Sueno translates to ‘the dream’ and the garden is owned by family friends Pedro and Lucre. We called in one afternoon to collect oranges and were treated to a tour around the garden. I love it there; the plants are so different to those we have back home in the UK.

Many of the plants were covered for Winter to protect them from the cold and wind. But there was still plenty to see. I thought these were flowers but I’m pretty sure they are fruits. They look like pineapples!

Some of the cacti at El Sueño are huge!! One the main challenges during the Winter is protecting these tall plants from the wind. Sadly a couple snapped this year; but there were still plenty more to see.

These look like oranges but I think they are actually grapefruit.

This weird looking thing is a loofah. Once harvested, the grubby outer layer is removed and leaves behind a clean pale structure. Next time you see one in the shops you’ll know where it came from, a tree like this. If a loofah is picked young it’s edible — the things you discover on YouTube! I kid you not, I spent about half an hour watching loofah videos.

This pot hangs in a what can only be described as a tree of trees. Runners are potted and held up around the tree on a line of string.

As it’s Thursday I’m doing a Throwback Thursday to when I first visited this garden nearly 7 years ago — just after it opened.

If you ever find yourself in the Ondara area of Spain I recommend calling in at El Sueño. Pedro and Lucre have created a beautiful garden and talk about it with real excitement (in Spanish). As well as the garden there is a small museum filled with nature finds like nests, bugs, rocks and fossils. Left to my own devices, I could happily spend hours here.