Alpine Garden La Rambertia- Swiss

[Philippe]

ALPINE GARDEN " LA RAMBERTIA " - SWISS. JULY 2016

Here the report of my short Swiss journey in early July.

To begin with, pictures from the alpine garden La Rambertia, which is situated above Montreux and the shores of the lake Leman, at approximatively 2000m asl.

It is run by an association, and workers are volunteers. The only reasonnable way to get upthere is taking a small mountain train which raises up almost to the top in about 30minutes.

The walk is otherwise long and quite demanding.

Garden entrance is free. The garden is open up to 3 months in the year, according to snowmelt in spring.

The whole area is covered with limestone rocks, building impressive steep slopes in some places. The climate is very wet throughout the year, allowing vegetation to colonize almost every square centimeter which is not vertical bare rock. COmpletely closed and lush alpine meadows developp on slopes which can reach sometimes nearly 60° inclination in the vicinity of the garden!

Snowmelt at this height occur generally rather late in a normal year. It was around mid June this year, although the south facing part of the garden is naturally free sooner.

The garden is built between/under 2 huge rocks, as shwon on the pic below:



There is that south facing slope, which we don't see on the pic, and that really falls steeply  into the valley further below. A part of the garden lays on that slope, and ways had naturally to be arranged to run between the rock beds in this particularly staggering environment. Alpine garden quintessence, as we will see a bit later!

The north face, shown on the pic above, only covers the beginning of the huge boulder on the left, near the "pass". Here thrive  himalayan plants in cooler/moister conditions, with late snowmelt and reduced insolation.

As tempting as the idea might has been of installing the garden also partly on these both huge boulders, it isn't the case: the picture doesn't really show, but they are really steep too, and it would of course have been very dangerous. So they are let to the spontaneous luxuriant vegetation, and classified in nature reserve.

Next pic with the entrance of the garden itself:



A lovely welcome which immediately sets the tone.



Water is gathered, even though precipitation are generally enough to cover the needs of most plants during the growing season: the soils in the garden are very mineral, and very thin sometimes, which means they'are drying out quickly. On the pic above, one can see a sort of gutter at the bottom of the boulder, which leads rain water in a reservoir. This has been useful last year too, as the garden also had sometimes problems with the frequent summer drought periods.



Attacking that famous south slope. That's what you see when entering the garden looking south!

[Philippe]

A general view of the south area of the garden, at the bottom of the second boulder.

The rock beds are not that large, being generally accessible for work from above or below. The garden itself is ca 3000m2 tall and is home to around 1000 plant species, half of it swiss species, and the rest coming from mountains of the world.



Installing a garden in such a setting  has certainly not been an easy task. THe beds are raised and maintained by rock walls to compensate the slope, but one has surely to take great care when weeding or planting in the beds!



When clouds and fog decide to lift, the view is simply breathtaking



COming up from the lower part of the garden and looking above toward the entrance.

[Philippe]

Some plant pictures now. As usual, it's really not easy for an occasional visitor to catch the essence of the garden during a first and single visit. I simply picked out some flowering plants and bed views.



Rhododendron hippophaeoides



Globularia cordifolia



As you see, the places for plants and roots are really tight with all that rock everywhere. This may please many plants, and amongst them surely high alpine ones, but one feels that other would sometimes like to have probably more "space". Alpine diet though!

Cultivating on limestone with few soil above the bedrock must be a challenge for some species too.





Daphne X napolitana, ( natural?) hybrid between D.collina and cneorum

[Philippe]

Gentiana occidentalis in the foreground, and probably a yellow flowering Cytisus emeriflorus in the middle.



Geranium argenteum



Androsace helvetica. It comes naturally in the region, but probably was planted here ( seems there would be too much competition around to allow the harsh life of such an aristocrat alpine). Nevertheless, the problem with that plant is certainly not the cultivation at that height, but the competition regulation. The specimen shown here is really happy, and growing healthily. Blossom was over, no surprise in the southern exposed part of the garden.



Potentilla villosa

A look at the north facing slope, where the himalayan plant bed has been installed.

[Philippe]

Potentilla peduncularis

Out of the garden now to enjoy the great sceneries and alpine plants growing there!



Pulsatilla alpina. Thousands of it around the garden



Trollius europaeus, tens of thousands, colouring the meadows in yellow



Note the really steep slopes. The garden is located behind that boulder.

Recently a way has been arranged to offer the visitors the possibility to make a loop around the "himalayan" boulder. Right up is the himalayan part, and left below you can now reach the lower part of the garden with this new way ( hich we don't see on the picture). Before, visitors had to turn back once arrived in the lower part of the garden.

No beds or cultivated plants along this way, only the spontaneous vegetation.

[Philippe]

Cerinthe sp.



Globularia cordifolia



VIew toward east, to the lake de l'Hongrin.

[Philippe]

View toward west with the turquoise blue water of the Leman lake and the Jura range at the horizon in the right



Myosotis sp.



Rhododendron ferrugineum, probably on decalcified and/or leached superficial soils.



Aster alpinus



Dramatic landscapes.

[Philippe]

Gentiana verna together with Gentiana lutea



Anemone narcissiflora in full blossom everywhere!



At the base of a north facing cliff, Viola biflora enjoying constant moisture supply throughout the summer



Tozzia alpina, a parasitic plant mostly found in the Alps, Jura, and Pyrénées.

 

In preparation, another report about the alpine garden " La Thomasia" and surrounding mountains!

[Maggi Young]

  Philippe, thanks for this report from the garden on LeRochers-de-Naye which is associated with  Henri Corrévon and nowadays, with SRGC member Mrs Bruny Monney     

[Philippe]

  Philippe, thanks for this report from the garden on LeRochers-de-Naye which is associated with  Henri Corrévon and nowadays, with SRGC member Mrs Bruny Monney     

Mrs Bruny Monney, an adorable woman who makes absolutely delicious meringues served with Crème fraîche double de Gruyère, a swiss speciality

[Maggi Young]

Ahh! Now that's a side to Bruny that I did not know!

[fermi de Sousa]

Thanks for the tour, Philippe,
it looks like a marvelous place to visit,
cheers
fermi

[astragalus]

Thanks for the great Tour, Philippe.  What a spectacular setting.

[ruweiss]

What a beautiful garden, thank you for your professional report.

[Gabriela]

Another thanks from me Philippe. What an ALPINE garden! and such dedication to be maintained by volunteers.