Algarve botanical garden trials subtropical fruit trees for climate change

In Luz de Tavira, the Orchard of Flavours botanical garden grows around a thousand plants from over 500 species, cultivars and varieties gathered from subtropical and Mediterranean regions worldwide, including mangoes, longans and 'Blue Java' bananas. Founded in 2019 and BGCI-certified since 2022, the 1.8-hectare project observes how these species cope with the Algarve's hot dry summers, alkaline soils and occasional winter frost. It records both successes and failures, the latter in a so-called 'Plant Cemetery', building a public database to help growers and gardeners anticipate which crops might suit a warming climate.