Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Bulbs General => Topic started by: art600 on February 13, 2008, 12:35:47 AM
-
My visits to Greece had always been to the Peloponnese, until May 2007 when I visited northern Greece with the objective of seeing Crocus civjicii, veluchensis and pelistericus, together with Fritillaria epirotica and montana. A friend had been in 2000 and saw huge areas of flowers in fairly cold and miserable weather.
We flew by Easyjet to Athens, having prebooked a car, but no hotels. The big surprise was the weather - very hot - probably 10C higher than average.
Here are some of the sights we saw.
Meteora
Iris suaveolens
Iris suaveolens
Orchids - would appreciate identifications - thanks to Gerhard Ruschan 207/9 are Orchis mascula and 210/1 are Dactylorhiza romana
-
On the Katara Pass we saw Fritillaria epirotica
-
Frit montana
-
On Mount Vermion we saw just a few Crocus civjicii, Gentian. Going through one of the villages near Vermion, we were surprised to see that storks are provided with nest sites.
-
Crocus veluchensis and pelistericus
-
And other beautiful flowers, including Narcissus, viola and a possible hybrid Crocus
It was an unforgettable holiday, but I think I will return in the future when I hope the weather will be average and the flowers in far greater numbers.
-
It was an unforgettable holiday, but I think I will return in the future when I hope the weather will be average and the flowers in far greater numbers.
And please don't forget your camera
Arthur, it is so nice to see so many beautiful plants in the original places.
Thank you for sharing them with us.
Luit
-
Art, wonderful photos. What a delightful little plant F. epirotica is.
-
Arthur,
Thanks for the great pictures of plants from Greece; I have good memories of some places.
-
many thanks for these wonderful picts !
pict 207-209 Orchis mascula
pict 210 + 211 Dactylorhiza romana
-
Thank you Gerhard
-
@Arthur - thanks for this wonderful photos.
@Gerhard- this O.mascula look like Orchis mascula subsp. pinetorum, is this possible ? - do not know the exact distribution of this ssp. ::)
-
Wonderful little report Hans, be it with 9 or 10 months delay ;D
Beautiful scenery and great plants, live in their habitat !
Thanks a lot for showing us.
-
Luc
It took me more than 10 months to learn how to post on the Forum.
-
@ Hans: My first thought was that this plant belongs to ssp. signifera (look to the petals)
O. mascula ssp. pinetorum grews from Yugoslavia eastern to Caucasus.It is possible to find it in pine forests (name !!!).But it`s difficult to ID such plants, because there are a lot of intermediate hybrids (crossing stages)
-
Thanks Arthur it's really nice to see plants growing in their natural habitat
-
Luc
It took me more than 10 months to learn how to post on the Forum.
Don't worry Art that's way below average ;D
-
Lovely set of plants. Nice to see them, and especially Crocus civjicii (another on my wants list), growing in their natural habitats.
-
A secret - I did not take the photo. Due to extreme heat all flowers at the immediate top had gone over. My pal, who is fitter than me was prepared to walk until he saw one - hetook my camera.
Have tried growing from seed - unsuccessfully. First year, like mustard & cress - second year nothing.
-
We will forgive you Arthur, it is so nice to see them in situ thanks for sharing them with us.
-
Arthur, thank you for this picture report.
Very lovely also the N. poeticus.
-
Arthur in truth it took you less than ten minutes to learn!!
Super pictures and as you said about Turkey we seem to have been to the same places in Greece. I am off to the North in May to have another look at the crocuses and other things. I have never seen any flowers on the Katara pass,it has always been deep in snow. I always find that May is too late for a good show of civjicii on Vermion but the ramonda on the way up are superb so swings and roundabouts.
-
Tony
But only after your excellent tuition.
With temperatures in the low 30's, the Katara pass was green and full of flowers. I have not posted photos of the Corydalis and Tulips, but they were there in significant numbers.
When we go on our trips, we are always at the mercy of the season. Not booking our hotels in advance means that if flowering is poor in one location, we can move on to investigate other areas.
-
I have not posted photos of the Corydalis and Tulips, but they were there in significant numbers.
So, where are these photos, then? We'd love to see them!!
-
I never book my hotels just a flight and a car.There is always somewhere to stay even if it is the back seat of the car which I have never had to do. The only exception was a hotel in Torres del Paine which was so booked up that without pre booking there would have been no place to stay.
The season is so critical,i go the same two weeks in May each year because on average it is excellent. On my first visit to see crocus pelistericus there was not a flower to be seen.On the next visit millions in flower. So boring when they are all the same colour! The autumn is even more critical,if it has not rained then nothing to see or do.
I am afraid my pictures to date have been on slides but I am now digital so with luck this year will be a posting one if there is anything to see.
-
Wonderful to see this thread! We went to the same area in May this year. Now I found out some names of the plants we have photos of!