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An English country garden in Tenerife |
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Written by Steve Andrews
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 Many British people who become residents of Tenerife like to carry on experiencing the culture from the UK in their new island home and besides obvious things like wanting to be able to eat British food and listen to English language radio it extends into a desire for garden plants and flowers to flourish in their gardens and terraces.
Fortunately, with a bit of planning and plenty of water there are a large range of garden flowers and bushes and trees that will grow perfectly well in Tenerife. This is especially the case in the north of the island or in the mountains but even in the hot south of Tenerife flowers like the Rose (Rosa spp) and the Marigold (Calendula officinalis) will grow well if they get enough water.
 Petunias (Petunia hybrida), Geraniums (Pelargonium spp), Love-in-the-mist (Nigella damascena), French and African marigolds (Tagetes spp), Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus) and Pansies (Viola × wittrockiana) are all examples of popular garden plants that can be grown in Tenerife. Many garden centres sell seeds of annuals and roses can also been bought in these places.
 Bulbs and corms such as Iris (Iris spp), Grape Hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) and Tulips (Tulipa spp) will also grow and flower well in Tenerife as long as they get enough water and enough moisture holding material in the soil they are in.
The Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) is a popular annual garden flower in the UK with its red or orange or yellow flowers and attractive round leaves and here on Tenerife it does so well that it grows wild in many parts of the north where it has become naturalised. It grows best in the winter and spring because it needs the moisture and if you grow it down south it must be kept well watered.
Speaking of water, water gardens with a pool and water lilies and fish are popular in British gardens and here too in Tenerife it is possible to have such a feature. Garden centres will again be able to help with a range of ready-made pools, water plants, fish and fountains.
 If you have a pond in your Tenerife garden it is likely to attract dragonflies but if you have fish be careful that they don’t tempt Herons to fly in and see what they can catch. This bird is perhaps not one that you would associate with Tenerife but they do live here and are always on the lookout for food.
In the cooler and damper parts of the north of Tenerife it is easy to grow trees you would associate with British gardens – Apples, Pears, Cherries and Plums are all examples of fruit trees that grow here and Sweet Chestnuts (Castanea sativa) is commonly grown.
 So providing you can supply adequate water and some shade too would help in very hot and exposed parts of Tenerife, it is possible to cultivate many species normally associated with British gardening.
At the same time, exotic plants that can only be grown indoors in the UK, will thrive outside here all year round and some like the Swiss Cheese Plant (Monstera deliciosa) will become very big and actually flower and bear fruit. Rubber Trees (Ficus elastica), normally seen in a pot in the corner of the lounge, on Tenerife will form mighty specimens that can get so big they can endanger buildings if they are planted too close.
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Tenerife Island