Papilio machaon, the swallowtail on Oenothera speciosa.

Bee on Erica arborea.

Pholidoptera fallax, Fischer's bush cricket on a rose.

Euchloe ausonia, the eastern dappled white, on Cistus monspeliensis.

Eulasia pareyssei, a type of scarab beetle, on Glebionis coronaria  (syn Chrysanthemum coronarium).

Tettigonia viridissima, the great green bush-cricket, on a sweet pea.

Lacerta viridis ssp. meridionalis, green lizard.

Bee on Dittrichia viscosa.

The MGS garden at Sparoza. View towards the threshing floor. An exuberant Phlomis fruticosa on the left and a sombre Cneorum tricoccon on the right.

The MGS garden at Sparoza. View in the opposite direction across the front entrance under the branches of the old Pistacia lentiscus taken in late spring.

Clematis integrifolia grows wild in Italy and further east and does well in cooler mediterranean gardens. It needs a cool moist root run, and sprawls over ground or low walls, and through shrubs, rather than climbing.

The Nazareth iris (Iris bismarckiana), one of the world's most spectacularly marked irises, is confined in the wild to a few localities in Israel and Jordan. This fine patch is growing in the Ramat Hanadiv Memorial Gardens in Israel.

Cistus purpureus is one of the best cistuses for mediterranean gardens, with big bright flowers lasting over a long season, and good foliage.

Sparaxis grandiflora, from the mediterranean-climate part of South Africa, was introduced into Europe more than 250 years ago. It grows and increases well in mediterranean gardens, taking some frost. Whilst it stands up to fierce heat and full sun , it develops longer stems in the shade.

Spring flowers in a Greek hillside pasture; this was taken above Nestani in Arkadia. The red flowers are Anemone pavonina.

This poppy, Papaver rhoeas, is one of late spring's most welcome sights in the countryside of the Mediterranean basin - seen here near Afourer during the Mediterranean Garden Society's recent tour of Morocco. The cow was tethered and its owner soon appeared to keep it safe from the gathering photographers.