Palheiro Gardens

The Quinta do Palheiro was laid out by the Count of Carvalhal in the late eighteenth century and bought in 1885 by the Blandy family, British wine merchants long established on Madeira, who have gardened it since. The result is an English garden transplanted to a subtropical island at five hundred metres: formal areas with clipped hedging and herbaceous borders that would sit in Sussex, running into a sunken garden, a long avenue of plane trees, and then a valley of tree ferns and native laurisilva. The camellia collection is the best known part, several hundred trees flowering from about December to April, and there are proteas, magnolias, orchids and southern-hemisphere species throughout. A chapel from the original estate survives. The house is private; the gardens and a golf course occupy the grounds, with Funchal bay below.

What you actually see

• The camellias - several hundred trees flowering from about December to April.
• The English structure - formal borders and hedging in a subtropical setting.
• The fern valley - tree ferns and native laurisilva below the formal areas.
• The estate - an eighteenth-century quinta gardened by one family since 1885.

When to go

December to April for camellias; the garden works year-round. Two to three hours. Mornings are quieter.

Honest expectations

Steep paths and steps in the valley sections. The house is private and not shown. The ticket is not cheap. Busy with cruise excursions in the middle of the day.

Nearby

Funchal is below; Monte and its gardens are west along the hillside.