Beautiful plants in the Dolomites

[Spiegel]

Sensational is right, Anne!  Especially like the variation of Rhodiola with the red accents.  I didn't know R. glacialis was more than just white.  Thanks again.

Rick, I'm so glad that you mentioned the Rhodiola.  I think they're quite fancy and they seem to be stepchildren among the alpines.  We have some in the Rockies which are gorgeous.

[Spiegel]

Odds and ends - pictures of plants seen on various days that I don't think are duplicates of plants already shown.  On any given day we would see gentians and other wonderful plants but it's possible you might get bored seeing them in each post.  I never get bored seeing them in person!

[Lori S.]

Wow, I love the Potentilla nitida and the Oxytropis, especially.  I started the former from seed this year - would that it could ever reach the glory of those in your photos!

[Spiegel]

Wow, I love the Potentilla nitida and the Oxytropis, especially.  I started the former from seed this year - would that it could ever reach the glory of those in your photos!

Lori, I haven't had much luck with Potentilla nitida (three blooms after three years in the garden and then it died from exhaustion), but that may have had a lot to do with the fact that this is a very dry garden.  Oxytropis jacquinii, on the other hand, blooms beautifully in the garden and maintains its alpine stature at 250' above sealevel.  The foliage remains excellent, no mold or mildew despite terrible humidity, and it is very floriferous.  It lasted 6 years before dying during this terrible weather year.

[Booker]

Sorry Anne, but would you please check your last image ... the foliage is much more R. seguieri than R.alpestris from this perspective?

MMcD edit: photo renamed to Ranunculus seguieri. 

[Spiegel]

Sorry Anne, but would you please check your last image ... the foliage is much more R. seguieri than R.alpestris from this perspective?

Just checked the picture, Cliff, and of course you're absolutely right.  I just changed the name tag.  That picture is R. seguieri.  Attached is the real Ranunculus alpestris, which was hiding in the computer.  Please start showing your pictures.  I really want to see what things looked like in the next two weeks since we saw mostly the earliest things.

[RickR]

Can my eyes get sick from "eating" so much candy?  Maybe I'd better stop...

Well that's just silly, and it's impossible for me to stop anyway!

Trond, somehow I missed that thread of yours.  Thanks.

[Spiegel]

Absolutely the last post - time for Cliff to get started!  We always head to bare spots in a meadow (used to do this in Colorado too), because they are usually colonized by a few plants not growing elsewhere in the meadows.  The "soil" here is amazing.  It looks like a very fine clay that forms a crust and then cracks.  The surface is so hard a hiking stick doesn't penetrate.  It's like cement.  When wet, it accumulates on your boots until you feel three inches taller and twenty pounds heavier.  But it can apparently be hospitable to certain plants.  This patch in the photos had only a few species and prominent among them were Ranunculus seguieri and Oxytropis jacquinii.

[IMYoung]

Wow, I love the Potentilla nitida and the Oxytropis, especially.  I started the former from seed this year - would that it could ever reach the glory of those in your photos!

 The Potentilla is one of my favourite plants in our raised beds and these photos of it "doing its thing" to such glorious effect in the wild is a real joy.
I wish you happiness with your seedlings, Lori, which I am sure you will enjoy.... because these pplants can be longlived.

I  would advise you, when planting out in  a permanent position, to put them somewhere where they can have a VERY DEEP root-run. They have a long taproot that can easily go down three feet and more in my garden!
m

[Lori S.]

That is very helpful to know, and very encouraging, Maggi - thanks!

[Booker]

Anne has invited me to post some images from our recent 'tour of duty' in Corvara in the Dolomites, which began shortly after her own two week visit came to an end.  I will begin by posting some general scenes from this incredible part of Northern Italy and will continue (as time and tide allow) with plant portraits, views, wildlife and even a few 'arty' shots that I hope you will enjoy.

CENTAUREA SCENE
DISTANT PEAKS
CAMPANULA SCENE
FALZAREGO TRAIL
GERANIUM SCENE
NUVALAO TRAIL
ORCHID MEADOW
PEDICULARIS SCENE
PHYTEUMA SCENE
POTENTILLA NITIDA RUBRA

[Lori S.]

Absolutely breathtaking photos, Cliff - each is a perfect scene!  Thank you so much for playing tag-team with Anne to continue this wonderful thread!

[Spiegel]

Great shots, Cliff, as I knew they would be.  The picture of the Falzarego trail shows a large boulder in the right foreground.  It's exactly the type place where I found Androsace hausmanii this year.  The only other time I saw it was years ago in a similar bouder setting.  You can see all the crevices and that's apparently what it likes.  Please keep the images coming.

[Booker]

Thanks folks ... a few more this morning ...

ACONITUMS et al
ACROSS PORDOI PASS
CAMPANULA CLOSE-UP
CAMPANULA GLOMERATA SCENE
CAMPANULA MORETTIANA PALE FORM CLOSE-UP
CAMPANULA MORETTIANA VERY PALE FORM
CARLINA ACAULIS ssp. ACAULIS
CLIFFS AND SCREE
CLIFFS AT VALLUNGA
MISTS DESCENDING

[Booker]

Another selection ...

FLOWERING MATS
FOLIAGE SNAPSHOT
STAND OF GYMNADENIA
INCREDIBLE VIEW
LEONTOPODIUM ALPINUM EMERGING FROM CREVICE
LEONTOPODIUM SCENE - QUITE PLEASED WITH THIS ONE!
LILIUM BULBIFERUM
LILIUM BULBIFERUM CLOSE-UP
LILIUM MARTAGON
MAUSOLEUM SETTING