Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum

General Subjects => Travel / Places to Visit => Topic started by: Oakwood on April 19, 2011, 10:54:07 AM

Title: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: Oakwood on April 19, 2011, 10:54:07 AM

This year we decided to visit our lovely snowdrops in Western Transcaucasia (Russia, 05-14.03.2011) and Bessarabia Highland (Ukraine, 18-25.03.2011).
The Transcaucasia trip stuff was Olga Bondareva (Moscow), Sergey Banketov (Piatigorsk), Svetlana Didenko and me (Kiev Central Botanic garden, Ukraine)
So, our route was from mountain forests of around Great Sochi, then Abkhazia, and then in Novorossiysk vicinity.
These first photos are from Great Sochi vicinities (Krasnodar dictrict, Russia, W. Transcaucasia).
Helleborus caucasicus
Cyclamen coum
Erythronium caucasicum
Scilla monanthos

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: Oakwood on April 19, 2011, 11:01:37 AM

Snowdrops of Great Sochi area

Galanthus woronowii - so called "woodland" and "rocky" ecological forms
Galanthus rizehensis
Galanthus rizehensis growing on rocks as epiphyte

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: Oakwood on April 19, 2011, 11:07:36 AM

My lovely and rebel ABKHAZIA

Scilla bifolia
Helleborus caucasicus pink forms, distributed only in this unique area
Erythronium caucasicum

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: art600 on April 19, 2011, 11:22:12 AM

Dimitri

Thank you for taking us to places we can only dream about.

It is always good to see plants growing in their natural habitat.  Particulalrly fond of the Erythronium.

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: Maggi Young on April 19, 2011, 11:31:56 AM

Quote from: art600 on April 19, 2011, 11:22:12 AM

Dimitri

Thank you for taking us to places we can only dream about.

It is always good to see plants growing in their natural habitat.  Particularly fond of the Erythronium.

 I agree, Art..... and the pink H. caucasicus is also very lovely.

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: Brian Ellis on April 19, 2011, 11:36:08 AM

Quote from: Maggi Young on April 19, 2011, 11:31:56 AM

Quote from: art600 on April 19, 2011, 11:22:12 AM

Thank you for taking us to places

I agree, Art..... and the pink H. caucasicus is also very lovely.

Me too, so nice to see the snowdrops with the other plants in their natural habitat.  The erythronium are lovely too, thanks Dimitri 8)

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: Melvyn Jope on April 19, 2011, 11:37:49 AM

Wonderful plants, superb photos, how we envy you being able to go there, thank you Dimitri.

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: vivienr on April 19, 2011, 01:37:12 PM

Absolutely magical. Wonderful to see all these flowers in their real homes. And those moss covered trees....
Just wish I had more money and better Russian to go myself. But definitely something to dream about
(smiley with eyes closed).

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: Oakwood on April 20, 2011, 07:48:56 AM

Snowdrops of Abkhazia

Galanthus woronowii
Galanthus krasnovii and its habitat

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: Oakwood on April 20, 2011, 07:56:36 AM

Vicinity of Novorossiysk area, Russia, NW Transcaucasia

Crocus reticulatus
Mushrooms))
Muscari neglectum

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: Oakwood on April 20, 2011, 08:03:56 AM

Novorossiysk area snowdrops

Galanthus alpinus
Galanthus plicatus and its habitat

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: Oakwood on April 20, 2011, 08:13:30 AM

The second part of our dropy-trip took place in Ukraine: Kiev and Cherkassy area and in Bessarabia. The stuff was changed a bit - Ukrainian-British joint trip members: Dr. Viktor Melnik, Dr. Aaron Davis, Dr. Anna Trias-Bliasi, Dr. Svetlana Didenko and me.

Galanthus nivalis in forests of Kiev area - some forms
Our dream-team))

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: Oakwood on April 20, 2011, 08:23:05 AM

Galanthus plicatus in Kholodny Yjar, Chrerkassy region. These plicatus plants have wide bright-green leaves without glaucous deposit!

G. plicatus in the wild. Inner petal mark variants.
Our British friends were frozen - somewhere in the remote rural Ukraine))
Zhelezniak old oak of 1100 years in Kholodny Yjar

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: Oakwood on April 20, 2011, 08:36:21 AM

Sunny Bessarabia  ;D
We were in Odessa area of Ukraine in Bessarabia Highland on the border with Moldova.

Pulsatilla bohemica
Gymnospermium odessanum
Crocus reticulatus differs from its NW Transcaucasian race by white flowers, not blue
Bulbocodium versicolor and its polyploid form as huge as Colchicum speciosum! Leaf width - 3 cm, petal width - 1 cm.

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: Oakwood on April 20, 2011, 08:42:38 AM

The unique Bessarabian snowdrop - Galanthus graecus in Stellaria media carpet that grows in placornic forests (forest that grows in steppe area). In all populations we investigated the plants with 3 or even 4 leaves and 2 stalks aren't very rare.

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: Oakwood on April 20, 2011, 10:17:19 AM

Many thanks to all for your kind comments! ;D ;D
Yes, spring Caucasus - it's really magic and wonderful view!

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: Brian Ellis on April 20, 2011, 10:22:00 AM

You can keep sunny beaches in Barbados etc I'd much rather see spring in the Caucasus, many thank Dimitri for taking us on this trip and showing us such wonderful snowdrops and other flora.

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: Olga Bondareva on April 20, 2011, 10:34:29 AM

Thank you for reminding me that great hunting!  :)

(http://cs4393.vk.com/u6450879/130200797/x_1e6e99d3.jpg)

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: Oakwood on April 20, 2011, 10:43:27 AM

Hi, Olga! Nice to meet you here one more time! YES! It was a great trip and our stuff))) I really miss those trip time....

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: Armin on April 26, 2011, 09:52:29 PM

Many thanks for your excellent images and pictures from the wild.
I enjoyed the Great Snowdrop trip.

Title: Re: Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011
Post by: Oakwood on April 28, 2011, 03:26:40 PM

You're welcome, Armin!  8)