The wonderful May air with blue sky, light wind and the smell of blooming greens invited us to take long walks. Especially if someone loves nature, the different scents in the air are worth every walk.

This year, despite the pandemic with all its restrictions, April was a month that gave us unexpectedly much sunshine but unfortunately too little rain.

Our hike along the Lossa creek not only gave us deep insights into the meadow landscape with its typical small plants on and in the water, along with the alder, birch and willow trees on the shore.

In times when, due to the reduction of movement and meeting with others because of the risk of infection, when even while travelling the maximum number of people is two and you should avoid meeting with other people as completely as possible, it is getting difficult for many to even leave the house.

Looking outside at this time of year, it is mostly gray and rainy in the west of the republic, so it is important for us to add a little color just before Christmas, why not with a small article about the cornflowers that always met with us during the summer, often accompanied along the way, whether during the hikes or the bike tours.

Once more on the road in the area of Lake Constance, our goal this time was to attend the spectacle "Southside", the fair and exhibition for off-road fans and their sometimes very unusual vehicles.

Slowly they ripen, so their red color becomes stronger, the smell more intense until the first fruits fall - the pomegranates, which grow almost uncultivated along the paths and shine so much beautiful in the sun.

A short stopover at a small chapel within the surrounding trees on the way up to the ridge of the Jablanica mountain range along the border between Albania and Macedonia had attracted our attention with regard to striking greens at the trees.

Who does not know them, the characters from the Asterix-Comix, especially the infamous Druid Miraculix and his magic drink. And if there should be someone not know:

During our hike through the Falkenstein Castle Park, in addition to the really impressive stone formations and the almost natural-looking paths.

The kumquats or cumquats are a family of small fruit-bearing trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, in the genus Fortunella which is often included in the genus Citrus.

The surroundings of the Campsite Rino in Struga also offers a real lure and challenge for hikes in the area, in addition, the autumnal leaves of the trees lured in unimaginable splendor of color, plus the still lovely sun.

Right now again very much in the news an essential feature of sunflowers, cause they are used massively in advertising for a car brand: heliotropism. But what does it really mean?

Already last year we had noticed strange green balls on the ground in the immediate vicinity of the White Tower, which seem to be kind of green tennis balls on first view.

The really rare Kyllenian Adonis is growing in the northern part of the Peloponnesus in Greece, mainly on the mountain ranges Killini, Oligyrtos, Trachy and Saitas.

The first intensified solar rays in Thessalonica not only lure people back out of the houses and onto the promenades next to the White Tower of Thessalonica, but nature also shows first reactions: almond trees push their buds out and show their first blossoms.

Our hikes and explorations through the nature within the scope of our project work, of course, always let us meet with known plants, so at least we thought at first, but then it turned out to be just little known, when we did some more detailed research.

Aloe vera, also known as the medicinal aloe, is a species of succulent plant that probably originated in Northern Africa, the Canary islands and Cape Verde. Aloe vera grows in arid climates and is widely distributed in Africa, India and other arid areas.

It is from the species of hippophae, a bush or tree type which is forked, thorny and sheds leaves in winter. It is generally between half a meter and 6 meters, rarely it may reach 10 m. high. Its leaves are lanceolate, 3-7 cm’s long, narrow, alternate, gnarled, its upper part is grey - silver colored.

Our trip to the island of Shurdhah in the dam project of Vau i Dejes also brought us a new experience with a fruit and flowering plant which we had already noticed in Platamonas in Greece.