Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Travel / Places to Visit => Topic started by: Gerdk on June 09, 2008, 06:37:41 AM
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Like last year I had the opportunity to accompany Erich Pasche on a tour to the Pontus Region of Turkey. It was almost the same route but some new plants (for me) were spotted.
Here are some pics.
1. At the Zigana Pass
2. Myosotis species
3. Daphne glomerata
4. Primula vulgaris (acaulis)
5. near the pass
6. + 7. Viola altaica ssp. oreades
8. Anemone blanda
9. about 200 m below the pass
10. Colchicum szovitsii
Gerd
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Gerd
You have brought back so many happy memories. It looks like the season was normal.
I have not been to Turkey since 2004 - am hoping to go next March/April next year.
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Great photos, Gerd!
Please show more!!!
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Very promising start Gerd ! :o
Beautiful pictures ! Thanks a lot for posting - don't hesitate to post more ! ;D
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Beautiful pictures Gerd that brought back memories of my trip on Zigana Pass some years ago.
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Thank you alltogether for the kind comments.
This is the next part - the Veronica from the Zigana Pass and the others from Melo Dag (above Artvin)
1. Veronica gentianoides/Zigana
2. Ajuga orientalis
3. + 4. Brunnera macrophylla
5. Helleborus orientalis - nearly over
6. Dactylorhiza urvilleana
7. Muscari species
8. Myosotis and Caryophyllaceae (Cerastium?)
9. Primula pallasii
10. Viola (rupestris?)
Gerd
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Beautiful pictures Gerd!
You are a lucky man to get to such places in so competent company.
I'm very envious.
Please show more if possible.
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I am enjoying your pictures Gerd and hope there are more.
By the way did you receive a PM from me?
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I am enjoying your pictures Gerd and hope there are more.
By the way did you receive a PM from me?
David,
Yes - there are more and I received your PM, thank you - I'll answer soon.
Gerd
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Beautiful pictures Gerd!
You are a lucky man to get to such places in so competent company.
I'm very envious.
Please show more if possible.
Luit says just what we are thinking, Gerd!
I imagine a visit to the mountains with Eric Pasche is both educational and entertaining... a man of enormous knowledge and great humour 8)
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Many thanks Gerd, for this trip to Turkey. A lovely collection of plants.
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Part 3
The Rhododendron hybrid was found at Melo Dag - the campanula is quite frequent at rockwalls near the river Choruh. The rest of the pics came from the 'Yayla' (alpine pasture, Alm)
above Demirkent.
1. Rhododendron x sochadzeae (supposed a hybrid of Rh. ponticum x caucasicum)
2. + 3. Campanula troegerae
4. - 6. landscape above Demirkent
7. unknown Caryophyllaceae
8. Lathyrus species
9. Genista species
10. Saxifraga species - abundant in the north east
Gerd
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Gerd
I hope there are more
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I hope so too. I didn't expect to see a rhododendron in Turkey!
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Have a look here Lesley:
http://www.t-c-m-rd.co.uk/invasive-weeds/rhododendron_ponticum/ (http://www.t-c-m-rd.co.uk/invasive-weeds/rhododendron_ponticum/)
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Gerd super pictures,it is a great area to go to with wonderful plants. My couple of visits have been really enjoyable.
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Gerd
When I was last at Artvin they were constructing the series of dams.
Did the new roads make it easier to reach the areas of interest? Did Erich comment on how the area had changed?
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Thank you Luit. You sent me to an atlas and I hadn't realized how close Turkey is to the Caucasus, right next door in fact. That was where I expected to find R. ponticum.
It has often puzzled me why R. ponticum has never become a weed in NZ, when so many other northern hemisphere plants have done. Rhodos love Dunedin and the bushy areas around. We see it in old plantings from time to time but I'm not aware of its ever having seeded freely the way it does in the UK. Have to be thankful for that I suppose. On the other hand, every year I have to weed out hundreds of seedlings from R. x Cilpinense, from the garden and especially from my seed pots. The flowers can get frosted but the plants never do, so I think it could become a menace in the right, woodsy conditions.
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Once again - thanks for the kind comments. Of course I'll continue - it is a pleasure for me also.
Gerd
When I was last at Artvin they were constructing the series of dams.
Did the new roads make it easier to reach the areas of interest? Did Erich comment on how the area had changed?
No - there were new roads built which are situated high above the level of the planned reservoir. To pass this area takes more than half an hour. Compared with the past according to Erich Pasche the whole area looks horribly and a lot of plants will disappear when the waters of the Choruh river will fill the valleys behind the dam.
Here is part 4
1. Hypericum scabrum near Demir Kent
2. A bicoloured rose at the roadside
3. Punica granatum
4. Papaver fugax
5. + 6. Cehennen Canyon (Hells Canyon)
7. Ferhatli Kalesi (ancient castle) opposite the canyon
8. Symphytum asperum
9. someone who is fond of plants too
10. Ornithogalum arcuatum + Gladiolus atroviolaceus near Ardanuc
Gerd
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Lovely pomegranate! And how impressive the canyon pictures, especially the third, with the building work. Presumably someone lived here once? Or maybe it was a fortification against the marauding enemy?
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Lovely pomegranate! And how impressive the canyon pictures, especially the third, with the building work. Presumably someone lived here once? Or maybe it was a fortification against the marauding enemy?
Lesley,
The rests of the castle were situated opposite to the entrance of the canyon. It towers over an
important road and so it was most likely a fortification. There is a small village near the ruins.
Sorry, no more information.
Gerd
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Part 5
1. Campanula pontica at the roadside
2. Landscape near Ardanuc
3. Meadow near Ardanuc
4. Gladiolus violaceus
5. + 6. Ishan Monastery - of Georgian origin
7. Village house near monastery
8. Epipactis veratrifolia
9. site of Epipactis - wet rocks with running water
10. Teatime with Mr. Karahan - grey jacket/ Erich Pasche - blue hat/ 2 friends
- Mr. Karahan (Karahan Hotel, Artvin) accompanied us because he would like to
see the site of the very rare Orchid which will be flooded by the waters of the
planned Artvin reservoir. He will have a talk with the Forest Department in order
to try transfer the population
Gerd
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Wonderful images Gerd ... many thanks for posting.
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Wonderful pictures Gerd - What a great and interesting area to visit !
The blue of Brunnera macrophylla is astonishing !
Thanks very much for the tour (hopefully not finished yet...)
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Gerd , thanks a lot for posting this fantastic photos - hope there will still follow many more - Campanula troegerae is a stunner -I should try to grow some more Campanulas... ::)
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Part 6
The following pics were made near and above Yaylalar - a small village in the Kackar Mountains -for me the most interesting area we visited in course of the whole journey. The road from Yusufeli along the Altiparmak (Barhal) River was extremely narrow, full of fallen rocks and fords to cross.
1. - 3. upper Yaylalar
4. Anemone narcissiflora
5. Arnebia pulchra
6. Wet meadow with Dactylorhiza euxina and Ranunculus
7. Geum coccineum
8. Valley high above Yaylalar
9. Viola alba
10. Primula auriculata
Gerd
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Part 7
1. Kackar/Alpine pasture (Alm) with huts for herdsmen
2. Kackar/Primula elatior ssp. meyeri (P. amoena)
3. Kackar/Primula longipes
4. Asperula orientalis
5. Annual Adonis
6. Delphinium and Papaver
7. Bridge at Cobandede
8. Teatime
9.+ 10. Glaucium corniculatum
Gerd
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A great thread - thanks. For those of us stuck at home/work it is a chance to escape .... and to dream.
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Gerd, a delight for those of us who don't travel now...such good photos to add to the pleasure of the "trip" ......Thank you :-*
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Thank you too for all the kind remarks. Please imagine - I am sitting here in cold and rainy Germany and all those pics are retrospection for me also. Time flies.
Here is Part 8
1. + 2. Mt. Ararat and mountains around
3. on the way to Bayburt
4. Choruh river near Bayburt
5. - 7. Rosa foetida along the road
8. - 10. Tchihatchewia isatidea - very local near Bayburt
Gerd
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- and the end
1. Tulipa armena
2. sight above the site of the tulip
3. Paeonia mascula ssp. arietina - Ovit Pass
4. Campanula species (betulifolia?) - Ovit Pass
5. Geranium species - Ovit Pass
6. Ornitholagum and Corydalis erdeli - Ovit Pass
7. Orchid in front of a grave
8. pasture lower down the pass
9. Tea plantation near the coast
10. Coast near Trabzon
Gerd
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Gerd, many thanks for taking us on this trip, I have enjoyed every moment ofthe wonderful country and its many charms.
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Thanks once again Gerd. What a super time you had. How wonderful to come a cross a field like that in picture No 6 of Reply 26. I've enjoyed this thread very much. :)
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A super posting Gerd ... as always.
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Gerd
You have captured the beauty of the Turkish countryside wonderfully. Add to that the very friendly people and you have a super holiday.
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Gerd,
absolutely great pictures. Someday I have to visit Turkey!
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Gerd
You have captured the beauty of the Turkish countryside wonderfully. Add to that the very friendly people and you have a super holiday.
Oh, yes. This is important! I didn't mention the very kind people - always helpful and never bothersome.
Some of them have only one nasty habit - they love crocus and some orchids - for a snack! ;) ;) ;)
To all
Thanks again for the compliments!
Gerd
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Great to see pic of Peaonia mascula ssp arietiena. I have some seedlings from exchange seed .... donated by Erich Pasche, seed collected in Turkey ;)