October Newsletter

In the first week in October I took guests out to experience the wonderful views over the mountains and sea on the climbing road between Kritsa and the Katharo Plateau – one of my favourite excursions.  Having stopped for coffee at Yianni’s taverna, we decided to take a walk.  To my delight, despite the lack of rain so far this season, the autumn bulbs are starting to appear.

I don’t think it is my imagination, but there seem to be more Sea Squill around this year – or maybe they are just more noticeable because there is so little else to see.  And someone asked me recently about a flower they had seen all around the island, but that they could not find on my website.  This pretty flower is the Oleander – not native to Crete – but found everywhere and planted in their thousands along the

So back to the autumn bulbs, in October and November (rains permitting) Crete turns into the most magical of rock gardens and the preview that we had this week was absolutely stunning and totally unexpected.

So here are a few samples photos of the flowers we found – two of which are endemic to the island.

Over the next months the flora of the island will be changing rapidly – the first orchids appear in November and the beautiful endemic and endangered Crocus oreocreticus (symbol of Flowers of Crete) will be in bloom.  At Flowers of Crete we will be kept busy photographing, drawing and recording the flowers as we find them and any help you can offer would be so gratefully received.

Numbers of founder members for the Zylogos are growing and we are grateful to everyone concerned who has already subscribed.  Anyone interested in becoming a member can find out more by contacting Julia directly for payment details, etc. 

Colcichum cretense

Crocus oreocreticus

Sternbergia lutea-October

Sternbergia greuterii

Lactuca alpestris-October

Sea squill-October

Mistletoe-October

Flowers of Crete Orchid Calendar

There is still time to buy your copies of the first Flowers of Crete Calendar – ‘Orchids of Crete’ – containing 14 original photographs of the spectacular wild orchids to be found here.  Proceeds from the sale of the calendar will go towards printing leaflets for next season in English and Greek.  The calendar can be personally signed and dedicated to you or your friends and would make a great Christmas or New Year present for the folks back home!  Priced at £5.99 including post and package, we can send directly anywhere in the world.  Ordering instructions can be found on the website www.flowersofcrete.info.

And coming soon, a selection of 6 Christmas/New Year cards featuring Julia’s paintings of endemic Cretan flowers and plants– did you know Crete has it’s own endemic mistletoe, which grows on pine trees in the east of the island? Please check the website for details.

The October issue of ‘Greece’ magazine carries an article and photographs by Julia on the wild flowers of Crete and their conservation and the next issue of Stigmes magazine will feature an interview with Julia and examples of her work.  Stigmes magazine is published in Greek and is also featured on line in Greek and English. Julia is already being booked for slide shows, talks and excursions during the autumn, winter and spring and there are still a few places left on her two week Flower Finding Trip around Crete at the end of March 2008.