Photos of the month

A small slideshow to accompany my Guardian country diary for 7 June 2022. I’ve selected from the scores of images that I have taken of Greek plane trees over the years. These were from a recent trip to Zagori, where the trees and their penchant for growing in the shallows of Greek rivers, play an important role in maintaining the integrity of one of the purest and most natural river systems in Europe (the Aoos and Voidomatis Rivers that drain out of the northern Pindos centred on Gamila and Astraka). You can read my diary article here. Note in the pictures the pure condition of the water and the way in which the trees grow in the bed, thus holding it intact in times of flood. The last two images show trees in their cultural context: at the heart of the village Dilofo (where we stay) and above Mikra Papigo, where the tree is associated with a religious shrine. These individuals show the tree species enters directly into the cultural life of Greece, which it has done for thousands of years.