Crocuses in Poland

[Jacek]

Spending lazy time in hospital in Italy with broken leg during  skiing I decided to try if  I can post anything using my Phone and the pictures I've made  with it.

Last spring I spent a weekend in Gorce mountains with my youngest son just to see crocuses in the wild. It was 1-2 April, the only sunny and warm weekend of the early spring.

Now the test of attaching pictures.

[Jacek]

Victory, it's working! My son on the previous pic.

Plannig such trip it is important to check the weather forecast - if I need a specific forecast I always use Norwegian www.yr.no - there is a forecast 10 days ahead and you check it for any named  place - in this case I needed  forecast for Turbacz, the highest summit in Gorce, 1310 m asl.

The second question in need to answer was if the crocuses were in bloom. This information is posted online and updated on the site of the mountain hotel in Chochołowska Valley in Tatra Mountains www.chocholowska.com Only DO NOT go there - just use as a timing indicator. Crocuses boom in about the same time everywhere in the mountains.

[Maggi Young]

Great way to pass the time while your leg mends.   Hope you are soon recovered, Jacek!!

[Jacek]

I thought it is high time to advertise a little - you on the Isles are still in EU, we are still  in EU, there are still  cheap flights to Kraków/Cracow - this is not stable  - why  not to make a short trip?

We took a night train from Warsaw to Zakopane and got off at the sunrise in Chabówka nad then did a short hitch-hiking to the village od Rdzawka - at the petrol station is the beginning of a marked mountain path leading to Turbacz. At the petrol station one can buy a good quality mountain map.

You should be travelling by bus form Cracow to Zakopane and  you  should ask the driver to let you off in Rdzawka by petrol  station.

There is always snow in the mountains and you  have to be prepared. Hiking to Turbacz is long - whole day.  There is one hut half way where you can eat. Yet- it is easy.

One can still see horses working on the slopes .

Now my pictures are too heavy-  I will try again

[Jacek]

Thanks Maggi

[Jacek]

There is a mountain hotel almost at the top of Turbacz. No free beds yet. We were prepared to  sleep on the floor  - this is always possible. The standard is appropriate ie VERY low. But there  are showers, food, roof and  heating- do we really need more?

[Jacek]

As you can see we were very lucky with the weather - on both days temp was close to 20 C and we were enjoying sleeping at noon on the dry grass in between crocuses.

[Jacek]

Just crocuses. Some variaton is clear. There were white ones, but I do not like them - they resamble winter. Darker tips not always present. White styles - no problem. Colour intensity and size  also variable.

[Jacek]

I noticed that white style, lack of darker tips and darker,9 more  cold-violet coloration were correlated features. These individuals were not numerous but easy to spot.

Now the terminology. We have  only one crocus species growing in the wild. In Poland it is called Crocus scepussiensis from Scepussia - a historical region located around Tatra mountains. Nowadays both  on Polish nad Slovak side  of the boarder. I feel  without knowledge-  this plant may not be sufficiently different from  other vernus plants  - but we had to have our 'own' crocus, nationalism in botany.

This crocus is clearly a meadow plant, strictly related to human activity and dependent on this activity. Grazing seems to be neccessary both for fertilization and to remove trees seeding into meadows or even more important - removing blueberries that erase crocuses. This human-related ecosystem is endangered.

I wonder where  crocuses were growing in the  pre-agriculture era.  They could have been forest plants but forests were probably completely different than now - mostly deciduous. Current mountain forests are too dark consisting almost only of man-planted spruce Picea abies. On The picture you can see a patchwork of forests and meadows and clearings - most no longer  in use.

[Jacek]

Crocuses do not grow ewerywhere, the  area is  restricted. One has to know where to look for. There are some scaterred locations at some distance from Tatra but also 2 or 3 lowland locations. These  may be really interesting and differ significantly.

There were more flowers to look at:
Tussilago farfara
Snowdrops G. nivalis - these  can grow in forests
Caltha palustris
Petasites albus
Anemone nemorosa and Dentaria glandulosa starting to flower in lower locations. No pics

[Jacek]

The second day was shorter but still long  hiking-  from Turbacz to a small  village at  the  pass-  Lubomierz Przysłop. There is a bus stop. We waited may be 5 minutes for the bus to Cracow. Than train to Warsaw and back home at 11 PM on Sunday. Morning to work and  school.

Did you like the trip? You can do it yourself this spring. Avoid weekends. Reserve time for Cracow.

[ashley]

Nice to see these photos & plants Jacek, & all the best with your leg.

[Jacek]

Thanks Ashley.

I modified my posts-  the phone does a lot of effort to change English words into Polish  - sometimes I miss it.

Yes, broken leg gives me a lot of time that I would never have otherwise.

The Dolomites two days ago, just before the seemingly small accident.

By the way  - my online activity is made possible by the EU decision  lowering data transfer charges on mobiles.

[Peppa]

Thanks for all the lovely pictures! Hope you are up and about soon!

[Jacek]

Thank you, Peppa.

While  I'm happy to advertise my country and it's nature, I'm aware we are not centre of biodiversity due to short time from the last glaciation.