The endemic Tajinastes Azul in full bloom 

Last month we spent another wonderful week on the Canary Islands. This time we focussed on photographing wildflowers in the mountainous areas of Gran Canaria. By mid March the higher elevations and the slopes facing north and northeast (that's from where the cold air and humidity moves in) turn incredibly colorful. And while hiking along the trails around Caldera de los Martelos we really felt like walking through a giant flower garden. But a rather steep one. All the senderos (that's Spanish for hiking trail) in that area involve quite a lot of elevation gain or loss. But they are well worth the effort! And as you can see on this month's image the tajinastes azul (echium callithyrsum) come in all shades of blue (=azul). In fact some of these flowers are rather purple or even pinkish.

We had done some scouting on previous visits and also at home with Google Earth, so we previsualized a couple of shots. But the tajinates azul were not as "cooperative" as we had hoped for. Their flowers are about 40-80 centimeters in size and they show up on top of larger bushes which in turn can grow as tall as 4 meters (13 ft). A ladder would had come in handy at some places! ;-) 
And these beautiful plants also have the "bad habit" for picking the steepest places on the mountain slopes. Besides not blooming all at the same time of course... ;-)

So it was not an easy task to find a great foreground filled with tajinastes azul. But we tried our best and we were happy with the results after a couple of days on an evening where there was still some sea fog present covering at the northern part of the island. 

When heading to Gran Canaria we recommend checking out the official website of the town of Valsequillo. It features a lot of useful information, maps and even gpx tracks: https://turismovalsequillo.com/senderos/. Which of those trails is the best? We do not have any preferences up to now, all of them are really great in March when the tajinastes azul and all kind of other flowers are in full bloom. And some of those hikes are also fantastic during the "Almond Blossom" in late January/early February. 

Hope you enjoy the short stories coming along with our images of the months.
Thank you for stopping by!

Image data: 1/15 s at f/14, ISO 500; Canon EF 16-35mm 1:4 L IS USM at 35 mm (focus-blended) with adapter at the Canon EOS R5

Related Links: Our images from Gran Canaria