Behind the houses on the other side of the road that our house in Spain is in, lies Bixquert valley. Its about a 10 minute walk from the house into the valley, which runs to the foot of Xàtiva Castle.

I enjoy walking in the valley when I am staying in the house because there is such a variety of wild plants, most of which you don’t see growing wild in Germany. One of the most common plants is rosemary, which grows all over the hill sides, but there are also quite a few cacti as you get nearer to the castle. And a huge number of small plants which I haven’t identified yet, many of which are in flower at the moment. There is also a good selection of ornamental grasses – it’s almost like visiting a garden center – I am quite tempted sometimes to take a trowel and a plastic bag, and take some of the plants back to our garden!