Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Alpines => Topic started by: Katherine J on July 04, 2011, 10:15:36 AM
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Hello dear Friends,
I am a rare plant nowadays on the Forums, but now I MUST tell you some news :)
About two weeks ago rambling on the black rocks of the Padon ridge, Dolomites, we found a white Eritrichium nanum!
Here you can see it. It was on an awful place above a huge precipice, so only my silly husband could reach it so close to make this pic without zooming.
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Not too far from this place we found also Androsace helvetica on those volcanic rocks! I had read in Farrer's book about the Dolomites that he also found A. helvetica on the Padon.
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Thanks for sharing these wonderful pics,, very interesting :)
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Hi Katherine,
You are too rare a flower on the forum these days ... I totally agree!
Your discoveries on the Padon Ridge are doubly exciting as we will (hopefully) be near that very same ridge next week.
The eritrichium should hold it's flowers until then and the androsaces look set for a fortnight at least.
To those of you with this pleasure still to come the Padon Ridge is in a magnificent setting boasting a host of beautiful high-level alpines.
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Cliff I wish you a very nice time and many such discoveries!
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Kata, we miss you very much when you are not here but we can forgive you when you return with such treasures! :-*
How exciting to find these plants... the photos are excellent, as ever.
Here's hoping that Cliff doesn't make too close a connection with his namesake cliff if he finds the white gem to photograph :o :-X
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Here's hoping that Cliff doesn't make too close a connection with his namesake cliff if he finds the white gem to photograph :o :-X
I could always dangle Sue over the edge with aperture instructions!!! :D
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Cliff, I made a picture especially for you:
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So many thanks Kata,
I know the spot very well and will strive to get up there (with Sue pushing from behind)! ;D
I was about to post the following image to give folks an idea of the grandeur of the place ... even on an overcast day.
Were the Ranunculus glacialis in bloom yet ... I fear we may be too late this year?
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It was in bloom in some places, but I don't think it will be over by then. On the southern slopes everything was maybe a little earlier then usual, but on the north sides many flowers were still sleeping or just awaking.
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......It was on an awful place above a huge precipice..............
I await the close up Cliff, and do be careful and get Mrs B to check the policies befor you go ;D
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......It was on an awful place above a huge precipice..............
I await the close up Cliff, and do be careful and get Mrs B to check the policies befor you go ;D
The camera's probably covered! ;D
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;D ;D ;D
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Such magnificent mountain country. In NZ, such a scene as Cliff's would be many miles from anywhere, remote and almost inaccessible yet in his picture, there is a little village nestled in the folds of the hills.
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Such magnificent mountain country. In NZ, such a scene as Cliff's would be many miles from anywhere, remote and almost inaccessible yet in his picture, there is a little village nestled in the folds of the hills.
Quite right Lesley, in the picture you can make out the hairpin intense Pordoi Pass that carries many thousands of cars, coaches, motor cycles and (especially) bikes throughout the year. There are hotels, restaurants, 'gift' (!) shops and enormous car parks at the top of the pass and mighty cable cars that transport thousands to the heights. Winter sees massed skiing and all that that entails.
It is possible to escape the hordes and find beautiful high alpines in abundance.
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Hi you must of been in the Dolomite's when the SRGC group were out there.
But you obviously were more adventurous then we were as none of use made it up on the side of the Pordoi ridge. Our President Liz Mills walked or should I say ran along the top with 2 others who are all very experienced orienteerers but missed lots of flowers.
I will post some pic'tures of our trip this week.
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Julia,
I think next time we go I will announce it on the Forum. There are many members who visit the Dolomites occasionally, it would be nice to meet there some.
I'm really sorry I did not know about you.
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That is very good idea Kata ... you would be quite surprised by just how many members get out there on a regular basis.
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Katherine, your pictures are intriguing. We were there last week and it was early although Ranunculus glacialis was in bloom. I've seen Androsace alpina there often but never Androsace helvetica. What a wonderful find. It is one of our favorite places to go.
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We were there last week
It would have been a pleasure for me to meet you Anne, I'm an admirer of your garden. Maybe some other time.
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Thank you, Katherine. Perhaps next year?
This won't compare to your pictures, but one of our finds this year was a white Silene acaulis. I never saw one before. You can see by the number of buds that it was still early, but to try and find it again would be difficult.
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Wow!!! Neither I saw one in the field yet!
We go every year in the Dolomites, there are chances still to meet :)
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We go every year, too. I hope we can meet sometime. Here's an overall view of the silene showing how many buds there are.
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That is indeed a fine white form, Anne. Never seen such a one. The flowers look to be a good size and the foliage is in tip-top health....well done for finding it.... and thank heavens there were batteries in your camera :o :D
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Maggi, I've learned to carry an extra, fully charged battery!
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Was it on Padon too? (I mean the Silene, not the batteries ;D)
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No, it was at Vallon (in Corvara), in the sunken meadow behind the Vallon lift. The meadow is very large and rocky and extends almost to the Rifuggio Franz Kostner. We wandered the whole meadow and on the edges as it rose to the cliffs. It was probably on one of the raised edges.
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The white Silene sometimes turns up in commercial catalogues and mine came from a batch of seed just labelled Silene acaulis, AGS I think, maybe 20 years ago. I find it a little harder to keep in good health than the pink. The one pictures in the wild is in perfect condition even though quite a large and therefore a reasonably mature plant.