The climate and the flora

The Lake of Como is particularly favourable and renowned for its generally mild and humid climate which assists the lushness of nature. All of this is possible due to the Alpine ridge which resists the winds from the north and also because of the great mass of water of the lakes which tend to reduce sudden drops in temperature. In the sunnier areas, for example around Tremezzo, the winter climate is never very harsh and in the summer the heat is hardly ever stifling as it is mitigated by great vegetation. However, rainfall is heavy in the pre-alpine zone. Thanks to these unique climatic characteristics, the flora along the lake banks is varied, abundant and of a mediterranean sort: cypress trees, laurel trees, camellias, azaleas. rhododendrons, magnolias, and palm trees. In some more wet and sheltered areas we can even find tropical and sub-tropical vegetation.In Tremezzo for example Villa Carlotta is famous for its splendid park where the visitor can admire all sorts of flowers and rare plants; during the warmer seasons we can see azaleas, cacti, austral ferns, palm trees citron trees and orange trees. The growing of grape-vines and of olive trees is not common because of the geological nature of the land and one can find these in certain areas only. Along the banks of the lake, certain localities recall a tradition of olive growing: along the west bank there is a zone in Tremezzo which in dialect is called "Zoca de L'Oli" while on the east bank we have Oliveto Lario and Olcio. On the mountain slopes around the lake there are numerous chestnut woods and higher up one finds pasture-land where narcissuses and lilies of the valley grow. Lake vegetation is sparce and is found only in areas like the Pian di Spagna as there are neither pools nor areas of still water along the lake banks.