Caper bush flower picture

by Helen (website owner)
(Cyprus)

Caper bushes have the most stunning flowers. This caper bush flower picture was taken right outside my garden fence in May this year. They grow all over our plot and this year the bushes seem to be especially strong and the flowers enormous!

You may have eaten pickled caper leaves with the prickly bits softened from the vinegar. But have you ever seen the bushes growing besides the road? If you have and are lucky enough to visit Cyprus in May/June, then the flower above is what you will see, along with maybe 20-30 other flowers on the same caper bush.

The flowers of the caper bush are only in full bloom in partial shade so the best time to see them is at sunrise or when the heat of the sun is waning as they seem to hate the intensity of full sun.

They seem to bloom for a long time as we have seen them in the mountains in shady spots in flower in late summer, just when most other flowers have wilted and died, except for the thistles of course.

When the flower heads of the caper bush are closed, they look like a peony. Really pretty.

Some people have told me they look like passion fruit flowers. I've never seen one in bloom so I don't know for certain, but if you have a picture of a passion fruit flower then please do share.

PS - in the autumn, the caper bushes have lost all their leaves and flowers of course, and are super prickly to handle. You'd probably even miss them if you were looking for them as they look like dry spiky twigs!

That's the reason why you only pickle the leaves in spring when they are young and fresh.