Off to the Alps

An arrangement of alpine flowers from the garden-feeding the anticipation for this weeks’ trip.

This weekend was spent packing, as well as catching up on some last minute chores around the garden, in preparation for our ten day hiking trip in the Swiss and Italian Alps – total alpine plant immersion requires some prep work, so not only did I spend a good part of the day rummagin through the cellar looking for the ‘perfect’ container, for which to photograph some of our own alpine flowers picked from the alpine wall along the greenhouse, but we also ended it with downloading some yodeling songs (vintage, of course) for our iPods, as well as the prerequisite viewing of the SOUND OF MUSIC. Um….queer,,OK, I know,but one must do what ever it takes.

Not your average arrangement, since these most likely would be illegal to pick in the wild. See if you can pick out the Androsace sempervivoides, a rare primula relative from China, or the various ‘alpine pinks”, the tiniest dianthis species from the Alps, or the Onosma species with it’s pale yellow trumpets, the penstemon, the Hutchinsia. I suppose a tiny precious arrangement like this could be valued near the cost of a Diamond encrusted Damien Hirst Skull, at a hundred million dollars, but then again, this would eventually die, even though the material is equally as rare….ugh.
Another shot of some of our own alpine meadow plants, and yeah, ok Mr. Smarty pants, the container isn’t exactly Swiss, but one could argue that it is ‘Alpinesque’, via Tibet.

Maybe next week, while posting from high in the Alps, I will be able to show wild populations of this Alp native, the less commonly known yellow (ish) memeber of the genus Campanula, Campanula thyrisoides, reminding me that indeed my thighs will be sore!. You may remember this biennial Campanula posted on here last October, as I planted these NARG’s seed-grown plants into the alpine wall. Well, here they are, beautifully prime in this very dark late evening before the heavy rains of tropical depression Barry hit. Somtimes I wonder about such things, plants that bloom for a day like Bloodroot, or the cost of a rare lady slipper that one never see’s blooming since they are traveling, or questioning the two years that it takes for this plant to bloom, and then it dies, never to return. It’s blooming period is only enjoyed for a brief moment, between trips, a day perhaps, before heavy rains bruise the tender blossoms, at least the digital camera can be trusted to capture thier brief, and rare moment with us.

Behind the scenes of the photoshoot…….Fergus (on the left) and Margaret (her butt) try very hard to keep the paparazzi away as I attempt to shoot the arrangement of alpine pinks, Androsace, Onosma, alpine lady’s mantle, and alpine harebell campanual for this weeks post.
Next time …….live from Switzerland……..