Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Travel / Places to Visit => Topic started by: Maggi Young on August 16, 2010, 06:58:15 PM
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The Mountain Garden at CairnGorm
This garden at 650m above sea level is located just above the Base Station at the Coire Cas car park. It is home to some of the rarest plant species in the UK and showcases the plants found in the surrounding mountains and to see similar habitats you would have to travel over two thousand miles north to Arctic Norway.
The garden is open daily and free of charge.
Jonny Porteous the gardener will be pleased to meet any SRGC visitors.
Follow this link to learn more....
http://www.cairngormmountain.co.uk/see-do/mountain-garden
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Hi Folks
Here are some photos from the garden so far this year!
JP
Starry Saxifrage
Scottish Bog Asphodel
Water avens before and after
Dwarf Cornel.
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This Mountain Garden at Cairngorm sounds a very special place and the Macro photos you posted are stunning Jonny - who could resist a smile seeing the Starry Saxifrage? :)
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Look forward to seeing more having spent many weekends working on an RSPB reserve nearby (Insh Marshes).
Re- your Scottish Bog Asphodel - is this a special white flowered form of Bog Asphodel?
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Lovely pictures, Jonny.... I have re sized them to 760 pixels wide to make them more viewer friendly!
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Here are the Latin names for the plants Jonny showed us...
Saxifraga stellaris- the Starry saxifrage
Geum rivale - the Water Avens
Jonny's fourth photo is Cornus suecica -the Dwarf Cornel
Jonny calls his third photo the "Scottish bog asphodel" but it is more correctly Tofieldia pusilla, the 'Scottish Asphodel'
The 'Bog Asphodel' is the gorgeous yellow Narthecium ossifragum ... see the photo below, from Stephenb in another thread of the forum. :)
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Aye Scottish Asphodel not Scottish Bog Asphodel!
The sun must have been getting to me today!
JP
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The sun must have been getting to me today!
JP
It's been nice here too.... lovely warm sunny day.... wondered why we were getting this summer treat, then remembered the children have returned to school, so of course the weather's good ::) :-X
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interesting place! i'm fascinated to read that the treeline is so low (up to several hundred metres lower than me! and i am far from the treeline, even here in the frigid north)--i guess that's due to exposure?
lots of nice plants in the flickr album-- the colour of 'FOX -AND- CUBS' is wonderful-- what is this,a hieracium or similar?
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lots of nice plants in the flickr album-- the colour of 'FOX -AND- CUBS' is wonderful-- what is this,a hieracium or similar?
I didn't know the common name of this plant... which is widely naturalised through the UK, having been introduced in the 17th century, I believe.
Super pic, as you say, cohan.... it is Hieracium aurantiacum, also known as Pilosella aurantiaca
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cairngormmountain/3674058909/in/set-72157615885916409/
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and very aurantiacum it is! great colour! thanks for the details, maggi!
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Credit to Ruari MacDonald for the photos on Flickr, he is one of the rangers up here at the mountain.
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Hi, Jonny, thanks for giving us the "gen" on Ruari .... please pass our thanks to him for the photos 8)
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Yes, I agree with Maggi, the photos are terrific and very clear images of plants growing in this Mountain Garden.....lovely to see Cloudberry and Cowberry amongst them and the frog Lichen is fascinating and amusing :). Thanks to Ruari - btw good to see dry stone walling in progress!
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thanks for all the comments regarding the photos
ruari
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Ruari, welcome to the Forum and thank to YOU for all those great photos on the site!
There will be a lot of folks reading this who think you have just got the PERFECT job!
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fun to see who is behind gardens and images-welcome ruari!
now, after robin's comment, i have to go back to look for the stone wall images!
later though, off to work soon :(
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Hi Folks
Here are a few photos from the garden this morning. Autumn isn't getting a look in here.
JP
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I saw on the news that Scotland would get some snow today. Is autumn over now in the mountains?
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Autumn colours are on show under the snow! the willows have lost most of their leaves and the birch trees have turned but still waiting for the alders to change.
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Snow arrived in Aberdeen today. too, within two miles of the sea.
Have a look at this week's bulb log, just loaded.
Wonder if this bodes well for the ski season, Jonny?
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Maybe Maggi I dont want to say anything incase I jinxs it but we have had some ski mountaineers up here today trying to find patches that are ski-able!
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Good grief!
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at least its not only us that's had snow ;D didn't last, yet...
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Thank you for the report!
I wonder if it were possible to make an alpine garden higher up in the Cairngorms? I think it peaks up to above 1000m isn't it?
Sure it would be perhaps difficult for somebody to live there, even though in summer, because of wind.
And what about snow in winter? I heard of some ski resort in the Cairngorms, I guess the snowcover lays perhaps longer and deeper than in the W-parts of Scotland, but would it be sufficient for real alpines near the summits ( androsace and so on)? Or is the winter there too irregular?
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Excellent pics, Jonny. I love that dwarf Cornus. 8)
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Hi there Folks
Well the snow has started to thaw and the garden has been some what flattened by the snow. We have had a fantastic winter with lots of snow, skiing, snowboarding and fun. At one point of the year we had the best snow in Europe for snowsports.
The garden sustained a bit of damage with the thaw and some of the paths got washed out but have been repaired and we are all set for lots of visitors this year. The resident frogs have been busy and the pond is full of frog spawn and frogs. Slowly but surely the flowers and plants are starting to appear and bud. I will keep you updated through out the season...
this is a video of the winter ....enjoy!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkmIWimoDGY&feature=channel_video_title[/youtube]
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Jonny, what happened to the small alpine garden that was established in Coire na Ciste many, many years ago?
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It is still there and is run by RBGE. The fence around the garden had been damaged by an avalanche in the winter 08/09 and no one got round to repairing it last year. Luckily they didnt repair it as it would have been hit by an avalanche again this year! Lets hope that the reindeer and hares havent done too much damage to it.
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Cairngorm Wild Mountain Garden 2011 so far......
path damage from the winter, frog spawn in pond, bee on Woolly Willow- Salix Lanata, Primula Scotica, Marsh Marigold -Caltha Palustris and Cloudberry- Rubus Chamaemorus.
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All looking good, Jonny.... apart from the damage to the paths. Expensive and time-consuming to fix, too. :'(
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd_jlA_aAgg&feature=channel_video_title[/youtube]
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Well, Jonny, that's impressive...... nine minutes well spent!
Jonny's "bit" comes at 2mins 11.... just before Ruari !
The video above was filmed & produced by Blue Stone Productions for the Action for Mountain Woodlands project of which CairnGorm Mountain has been a part.
Lots of videos from the Cairn Gorm Mountain Team here....
http://www.youtube.com/user/CairnGormMountain
www.cairngormmountain.org
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That really is excellent but it did make me a bit homesick!
Also answered a question. Not the Jonny Porteous I knew from my University Climbing Club days...far too young!
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it was the windiest day when we did the filming gusts of 60mph, hence the windswept and interesting look we all have!!!
the school kids were holding on for dear life.
definately not me martin! nice to know theres another Jonny Porteous out there though!
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the mountain garden from afar!
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A few little snaps from the hill....
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Winter is nearly here and we have had our first flurries of snow of the summits ... even though forecasters have predicted 160c at 900m on Wednesday adn Thursday!!!
Here are a few of my favourite photos from this summer.
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A few more
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Jonny, it's a sobering thought that the snow is beginning already.
It is cold and wet here in Aberdeen today and it is hard to credit the forecast here too.... we'll see what actually turns up in the way of heat and sun!
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The forecast says 3 days sun and warmth here :o But now snow down here although we had a little in the mountains last week.
The flowera are very familiar and dear, thank you Jonny ;)
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The forecasters were right it is like being in a hair dryer up here today!! The trees are showing signs of wind nip and are browning off in these unusual temperatures!!! 18c and 40 mph winds!
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Hello Everyone
We are nearly back in the garden here at CairnGorm after an unusual winter! High winds and warm temperatures mean that the snow hasn't lasted. It has been very mild so all good for the garden but not so great for the skiing. We may have more snow yet but at present we are closed for snow sports. The 9 day forecast is saying that this high pressure is set to continue so no snow on the horizon. Once again great for the garden but terrible for the skiing.
I hope everyone is well and I will continue to keep you updated as the season goes on.
Jonny
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Hello Jonny, good to hear from you and here's hoping the scoming season is a good one for you and for the garden. 8)
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Well after my last post things took a turn for the worse!
After a record breaking March with temperatures well into the 20's, the snow had all melted (apart from some very small patches on higher areas of the hill) and the garden had started to come away again BUT then in April we received a massive dump of snow. Covering the whole hillside and slowing everything down apart from the skiing! We finished skiing on Saturday there and my duties are now fully committed to the garden. With the wonderful weather we have been enjoying the garden has sprung back into life and is charging on at full speed.
So far we have flowering in the garden, Mossy Saxifrage, Marsh Marigolds, Starry Saxifrage, Butterwort and the Mountain Avens aren't far away. With everything looking healthy and in abundance after a bizarre winter I am looking forward to a bumper year in the garden.
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Show us some pictures, Jonny
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marsh marigold
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mossy saxifrage
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More photos will follow next week, lovely sunny afternoon here great way to finish a hard week of weeding!
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Would it be Pinguicula vulgaris Jonny?