Crocus and much else in North-west Turkey, early April 2015

[ruweiss]

Dave, thank you so much for your interesting report.

[DaveM]

A pleasure Rudi!

We arrived at Lake Abant to the west-south-west of the town of Bolu early Wednesday evening. Approaching the National Park from the west and in fading light we saw the wondrous sight that is the yayla above the Lake. There, the wet meadow was absolutely covered in crocus and colchicum. The light was too poor for photos, but we could hardly wait for the next day. All looked promising when we reached our hotel (pic 1),..... except for the weather forecast which was for snow on the Thursday.

And the forecast proved to be right. Snow fell during the night and continued on and off at Abant during Thursday. So we headed south towards Nallihan and Beypazari. Near the first, at a roadside locality in sticky red clay were growing the dainty bells of Fritillaria fleischeriana.

[DaveM]

At least here there was no snow, but the skies grey and it was bitterly cold.

Towards Beypazari, the landscape became like the 'badlands' with bare multicoloured rock formations and little plant cover in parts. There were common halophytic plants in the area, probably the result of sulphate in the rock. Here adjacent to an important bird sanctuary grows Muscari adilii, a species only recently described, and named after Prof. Dr. Adil Güner. An un-named species of Vinca accompanied the Muscari. The bird sanctuary is a wetland created by the damming of the river and hosts huge numbers of cormorants and a massive heronry. Osprey, marsh harrier and white-tailed eagle were observed.

[DaveM]

Returning north toward Abant we stopped briefly on a low snow-free pass to look at Crocus ancyrensis (pic 1). It was bitterly cold and windy and these remained tightly closed. This crocus was accompanied in places by a few C. abantensis.

Onwards and back into the snow zone where the floor of coniferous woodland is carpeted by Cyclamen coum. This is a really tough little plant which seems to withstand the harshest of conditions. Scattered among the Cyclamen is Corydalis caucasica.

[DaveM]

Beneath the snowline and in deciduous woodland we saw sheets of the primrose, Primula vulgaris, along with Helleborous orientalis and Corydalis caucasica.

Though Abant had been a white-out until the mid-afternoon we counted ourselves lucky that we had seen some decent plants. The night promised to be below freezing but the forecast for the Friday was for a sunny day. Despite this, we were left wondering what chance we had of seeing Crocus abantensis on what was to be our last day of the trip ........

[Tony Willis]

Dave

a really interesting report.I have been to all those areas many times and it is good to have a reminder of the wonderful plants. I have only visited abant in early may and by that time spring is well advanced and the snow has usually gone leaving the woods and slopes full of flowers.

[DaveM]

Thanks Tony, good to know that you have visited this area. So so different from the Taurus mountains to the south and well worthy of revisiting. A few final posts tomorrow accounting for Friday..........

[Armin]

Dave,
it is great to see so many garden cultivars in their natural habit.
I enjoy every image.

[Pauli]

dave,

It is a great joy to follow your footsteps

[DaveM]

Thanks both. Yes, it was great to see plants that many of us grow in our gardens.

Friday dawned sunny with a hard frost. A careful drive around revealed the extent of the snow cover. The meadows just above the lake were well covered and even more just on the north side of the park.

[DaveM]

Though the temperature was rising fast and melting underway (fingers were crossed!!), we decided to explore the roadside below the snow-line towards Bolu. 3-4 km away we found woodland and streamside margins with Petasites hybridus, dainty Dentaria quinquifolia and Galanthus plicatus subsp byzantinus.

[DaveM]

A few of the slopes facing the sun were drier than the meadow bottom and were clear of snow. A wealth of flower power adorned these areas, with Helleborus orientalis just emerged from buds, Scilla bifolia, Cyclamen coum and yet another yellow crocus, this time the gorgeous Crocus olivieri. There were a few good clumps as well a singles dotted around. Crocus abantensis also grows in small numbers on these slopes. Several of groups of flowers needed a little encouragement from a make-do greenhouse to open properly.

[DaveM]

From the almost total snow-cover when we first arrived at the wet meadow, by about 1pm the snow had largely gone. So we were at last able to see and enjoy the many thousands of Crocus abantensis there - what a sight and lots of excitement!!!!

The crocus had withstood the cover of snow for that day or so, but sadly most of the accompanying Colchicum triphyllum was trashed.

[Hoy]

Hi Dave,

thanks for showing. I have enjoyed your trip very much!

[DaveM]

Just a few closer images of Crocus abantensis to end this tale - which, after all, did end on a high note. On reflection I think we were extraordinarily lucky that we saw just about all we had hoped to see. The long drive to Istanbul didn't seem quite so long after those sights which will be a wonderful memory for many a year. Just a pity that the crocus weren't all fully out........