Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Travel / Places to Visit => Topic started by: Stephenb on July 17, 2009, 08:42:49 PM
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I suspect that nobody will object to even more pictures from the renowned Arctic-alpine Botanic Garden in Tromsø?
A bit late, I know, but on June 4th I spent the day in the garden followed by a short visit to Bjørn Thon who runs Skavberget nursery on nearby Kvaløy and Ivar Johnsen of Asphaugen plants, who also lives on Kvaløy (Whale Island). Both Bjørn and Ivar produce plants for the botanics and have trialled many thousands of plants over the years, many from New Zealand, South America and even Africa. Many have survived and thrive as we can see on our visit to the gardens. Bjørn in particular is legendary in Northern Norway and has several plant collecting exhibitions behind him in South America.
For me, a trip to Tromsø is almost as long a trip as to the UK – see map below (I live in Malvik near to the city of Trondheim, also marked on the map). For me, the main aim of the trip was to see and get samples (with permission!) from the collection of Alliums at the botanics, and in particular the collection of Allium victorialis from various parts of the world, as part of a planned national Allium collection, mainly tradional varieties of Allium used for food. Afterwards I visited the Lofoten Islands where on the island of Vestvågøy there are large naturalised populations of Allium victorialis (more of which another time). I also managed a lightening visit to Magnar’s fantastic garden in Harstad.
1. Map
2. Allium victorialis in the Botanics
3. Harvesting Allium victorialis on Vestvågøy
4+5.When I visited Bjørn Thon the first time 5 years ago, I had my biggest garden surprise ever when I saw that he had a Monkey Puzzle in his garden, admittedly only 10 cm or so high after 10 years. However, the last 5 years it has really begun to shoot upwards as you can see here and longer covered completely by snow in winter.
6. The botanics are only a few hundred metres further north and they last year also planted a Monkey Puzzle which has come through the long Tromsø winter without damage. Here is the garden’s leader Arve Elvebakk proudly showing off the new northernmost Araucaria in the world! It was apparently Arve himself who originally bought the nuts which became Bjørn’s plant in the market at Puerto Montt in Chile (the nuts are edible).
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Now, some plant pictures in no special order. Arve Elvebakk kindly showed me some of his favourites in the collections from New Zealand , South America and Africa, some of which are shown in the following
1. Sideritis syriaca: I’ve written about this one under the My Edible Alpines thread; one of the most popular herbal tea plants in Greece, harvested (mostly) from the wild by shepherds in the mountains, surprisingly never seen in herb gardens.
2. Pulsatilla lutea
3. Ranunculus insignis
4. Aciphylla subflabellata – one of maybe 10-15 different Aciphyllas (from New Zealand) growing in the garden
5. Oxalis enneaphylla
6. Tristagma nivale
7. Nothofagus Antarctica
8. Ourisia ruelloides
9. Psychophrila (Caltha) sagittata
10. Prostanthera cuneata
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I don't hear any protests, so here's a few more:
1. Gentiana brachyphylla
2. Allium humile ?
3. Claytonia megarhiza
4. Rheum delavayi
5. Lewisias
6. Gentiana divisa
7. Oxalis loricata
8. Oxalis?
9. Aloinopsis spathulata
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We can never see enough of this place, Stephen : You will hear only murmurs of pleasure!
I cannot remember if this was mentioned previously.... Arne won the SRGC prizes last year for both the Crosland Award for the best article in the journal, for his piece about the botanic garden in the January 2008 issue of "The Rock Garden" and also the David Lane Award for the best photograph, for his photo of Swertia kingii , also in that issue. 8)
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We can never see enough of this place, Stephen : You will hear only murmurs of pleasure!
I cannot remember if this was mentioned previously.... Arne won the SRGC prizes last year for both the Crosland Award for the best article in the journal, for his piece about the botanic garden in the January 2008 issue of "The Rock Garden" and also the David Lane Award for the best photograph, for his photo of Swertia kingii , also in that issue. 8)
The murmurs are echoing from the Alps too...... what a fantastic trip Stephen, thanks so much for all the photos of plants being nurtured and grown there together with your interesting introduction - an expedition indeed.! If I had to choose a favorite plant from your postings it would be Oxalis loricata, for its fabulous leaf, and the fascinating Tristagma nivale.
The setting looks wild and wonderful and the colour form of the rocks makes a perfect backdrop for these special plants. :) Norway is such a wonderful country.
Maggi, is there a link which shows Arne's article and his photo? He is obviously a budding genius :)
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Robin, I will send you a copy of the article.
Arne took over as Director of the Gardens when Finn Haugli, another famed Norwegian grower, retired. I tell you these are all very talented people! Not to mention charming, which is always a plus, isn't it!
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It certainly is...I look forward to the article, thanks Maggi :)
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Stephen,
wonderful pictures. I'm speechless to see Nothofagus antarctica in this way, as groundcover plant. The foliage of the Oxalis are wonderful.
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We can never see enough of this place, Stephen : You will hear only murmurs of pleasure!
I cannot remember if this was mentioned previously.... Arne won the SRGC prizes last year for both the Crosland Award for the best article in the journal, for his piece about the botanic garden in the January 2008 issue of "The Rock Garden" and also the David Lane Award for the best photograph, for his photo of Swertia kingii , also in that issue. 8)
I had read that, but had forgotten - must dig out the article again!
Finn Haugli also turned up briefly, so I met him for the first time too...
A few more pictures to come later!
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Finn has also just been to Lofoten, Stephen.... but for a music festival!!
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Stephen,
wonderful pictures. I'm speechless to see Nothofagus antarctica in this way, as groundcover plant.
Uli - I was surprised to see it in Tromsø as well. It was distributed here for awhile back 30 years ago as N. antarctica but later we found out it was var. prostrata. My biggest shock was to see a beautiful Nothofagus antarctica pollarded to great effect in Denmark.
Tromsø = heaven on earth. Would that make Finn Haugli St. Peter or Gabriel?
johnw
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John,
is it possible that a species of the Fagaceae is only a male or female species? Never heared this before, sound very interesting.
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Finn has also just been to Lofoten, Stephen.... but for a music festival!!
Must be the Lofoten "Rock" Festival... ;)
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John,
is it possible that a species of the Fagaceae is only a male or female species? Never heared this before, sound very interesting.
Uli - I can only tell you that Nothofagus antarctica when grown here in isolation produces no viable seed, at least after 20 years. When grown with other strains we get good seed but never very many; so I can only assume it is not self-fertile.
Still trying to find seed of Nothofagus pumilio.
johnw
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Very interesting indeed Stephen, thanks for posting.
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Still trying to find seed of Nothofagus pumilio.
johnw
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John ,
Maggie posted a link to a seed-selling side of plants from Chile. Don't find it anymore in my favorites.
Hope someone can help you with the link.
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Still trying to find seed of Nothofagus pumilio.
johnw
John ,
Maggie posted a link to a seed-selling side of plants from Chile. Don't find it anymore in my favorites.
Hope someone can help you with the link.
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Uli - I have lost the link as well but they did not have seed when I contacted them ion several occassions. B&T had old seed several years ago but I didn't bite as it was too expensive to take the risk.
johnw
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Stephen,
Wonderful. The only protest I have is that there aren't enough pics. ;) ;D
I'm amazed by the Allium victorialis.... I would never have thought it was an Allium!! :o I adore the Pulsatilla lutea and love some of those Oxalis as well. Thanks so much for the pics.
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Uli & John,
Is this the link you mentioned.
http://www.chileflora.com/
Cheers
Mick
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Stephen,
Wonderful. The only protest I have is that there aren't enough pics. ;) ;D
Oh, alright, here's one more - the collection of Rheum x cultorum ;) Does anyone not have this one?
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Still trying to find seed of Nothofagus pumilio.
johnw
John ,
Maggie posted a link to a seed-selling side of plants from Chile. Don't find it anymore in my favorites.
Hope someone can help you with the link.
Uli - I have lost the link as well but they did not have seed when I contacted them ion several occassions. B&T had old seed several years ago but I didn't bite as it was too expensive to take the risk.
johnw
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Was it Chile Flora John. They do list it, here
http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/FloraEnglish/ESeeds.htm?G_CAT=CT30&G_START=0&G_SRCH=Nothofagus&B1=Find
oops sorry I hadn't seen Micks post.
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Just kidding ;) Here are the last two batches from Tromsø. First some views:
1. View
2. The traditional garden - collection of traditional garden plants (perennial ornamentals) and herb garden
3. Saxifraga collection
4.-7. Primula collection - was at its best on my visit, but, sorry, not many pictures as not many edible species!
8. Africa in Tromsø
9. The African collection
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A few more plants
1. Rubus arcticus
2. Had noted this as Gentiana verna ssp oschenica??
3. Gentiana clusii
4. Muscari latifolium
5. Opuntia sp. (The other big surprise, apart from Monkey Puzzle, when I visited the aforementioned Bjørn Thon 5 years ago was an Opuntia spp. with flower buds!). Tromsø has 3 or 4 Opuntias
6. Castilleja miniata
7. Ranunculus buchananii
8. Saxifraga hieracifolia
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Stephen, your efforts are worth it for the pure enjoyment of being able to see and appreciate this Tromso from afar - the landscaping of the garden is fantastic and I love the way they have used the rock shapes to such effect complementing the plantings - the primula are shown up beautifully with the erect umber-coloured rock slices behind - Castilleja miniata picks out the same tones and all the plants seem to be thriving in their niches. Thanks so much for showing us the general as well as the close ups.....is it a port beyond or a fishing village?
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Mick and David,
thanks for the link.
Stephen,
wonderful pictures. Look's like to visit Tromso again after tree decades ;D
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Stephen the yellow gentian is Gentiana verna var. oschtenica :D
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thank you for sharing these (always welcome) views of Tromso...
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Stephen the yellow gentian is Gentiana verna var. oschtenica :D
Thanks - that's why I couldn't find it when I googled the name!
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One last group of pictures from the environs of Tromsø, the first from Bjørn Thons garden:
1. As I mentioned at the beginning, Bjørn Thon (he with the Monkey Puzzle tree) has produced and collected plants for the Botanics for some years. His garden which is next to the nursery can only be described as one of the world's diversity hotspots. At nearly 70 deg. N, the first time I visited I really couldn't believe that it was real - I mean flowering North American Opuntias, massive Aciphyllas (from New Zealand) etc etc. I'm sure many a forumer would have been in heaven here....
2. Aciphylla spp
3. Allium atropurpureum
4. The polytunnels and cold frames were also crammed full of goodies. Here's a Dryas grandis.
5.-6. Only a few metres behind the polytunnels there's this rock face covered in graffiti. I was convinced this was Bjørn's own work until I was shown the official display board proclaiming that these were 4,500 year old rock drawings - proving once and for all that Norwegians invented the game of tennis long before the British claim.
7.-8. I end up with two more shots of Allium victorialis, the main objective of my trip, the first from the Kola Peninsular and the second from the Caucasus...
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Who could imagine such a wonderful place so far north with such diversity - thanks for your photos Stephen
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. Here's a Dryas grandis.
Oh my.
johnw
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Truly amazing stuff Stephen !!
Thans ever so much to show us these places of beauty !!
If only it were a little less far away... ::)
The closest I ever got to Tromsö on a trip to Norway was the area of Alesund..... still a looooong way to go...
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If only it were a little less far away... ::)
The closest I ever got to Tromsö on a trip to Norway was the area of Alesund..... still a looooong way to go...
Tromsø is only 1 h 45 min by plane from Oslo. ;-)
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thanks for sharing this, stephen--fascinating to see whats being grown there..
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This wonderful garden crops up in posts from time to time and there is an event there now, celebrating their 25th anniversary. With neat timing, an e-booklet has been published -
"Rock Landscape Concepts of Tromsø Arctic-Alpine Botanic Garden
How to make rock garden landscapes in Tromsø?
The topic has been dealt with by many presentations by staff members of the Botanic Garden in Tromsø. As a result of taking part in an excursion to the mountains of Armenia two years ago, it also became the topic of a cooperation project with Ani Avagyan, Distance Learning Laboratorium, Yerevan State University.
The product is an e-book about making a rock garden. The book was finished just in time for our Garden’s 25th Anniversary, and is based on pictures taken by us, whereas presentation and design was made by Ani.
Our principles are shown through a cavalcade of pictures which primarily can be downloaded to a mobile phone and viewed efficiently.
Here you can see how we simulate granitic outcrops, terminal moraines, screes, how we mix the soil and choose natural rocks. And not the least you will be able to see some of the colourful and partly exclusive plants growing in our rock garden landscapes.
Welcome to a journey through a very special botanic garden!
[attachimg=1]
Follow this link to learn more and download the e-book or read it online:
https://en.uit.no/tmu/aktuelt?p_document_id=633768&fbclid=IwAR3lxRNQWtSmDISqkR6z84SuzmbmQc1OpoXGoDDklHWeJPbpUGMTDoJx-rk