welch

We're finalizing our upcoming trip to Andalucia.
I understand the winter was unusually cold and wet. As I'd love to maximize the possibility for spring flowers any thought as to whether it would be preferable to travel earlier or later in April or will I have missed orange blossoms and the majority of the spring flowers by then?
Thanks for any help.

Sassafrass

I am no expert (am sure others will know more), but I was told by our guide in Granada that the flowers in the gardens there peaked in May. Not quite Andalucia, but some info to start with.

latedaytraveler

Hi Welch, my only experience was a trip I took to Spain the third week of April (school vacation) about 10 years ago. It happened to be Holy Week - very special in Spain. I recall vividly the magnificent purple bourganvillas cascading over the walls of a winery in Jerez - a sight I will never forget. In my opinion April is an excellent month to visit Andalucía.
Enjoy...

ribeirasacra

The problem as I see it is that the flowering of the plants depends on the weather. This year has been the coldest for about 10 years and the wettest too.
So you may find millions of flowers or they could simply be later this year. nature works in a funny way.
Easter this year is in the first weekend of April.

flanneruk

It also depends on altitude.

Go for a decent ramble in the hills over the White Villages and, even in a normal year, you'll get phenomenal meadowsful of wild orchids and the like from mid-May. Obviously completely different timescales down on the plains - but most of Andalucia's pretty high. There's a great deal more to its flora than orange trees.

portuense

spring flowers are out now along the coastal areas even though we've hardly seen the sun for months. Give it another six weeks and the place will be a riot of colour. A bit later for high pastures like alpujarras, sierra nevada, sierra morena, but sierra de grazalema and sierra de las nieves will be looking their best by mid to late april. weather may be changing - there's little rain (though not yet sunny days) forecast for the next week which is just as well as the reservoirs, which were at critically low levels last year, are about to burst their banks...

welch

Thanks so much for the replies. We had thought of early April in our original planning but I think we'll plan for something a little later now.
I realize this is highly unpredictable but this gives me a sense of things.