Alpine Walks in Valais

[Maggi Young]

I do wish you luck with your Mothering Sunday Search..... but  remember, if all else fails, there's always chocolate!

[cohan]

I do wish you luck with your Mothering Sunday Search..... but  remember, if all else fails, there's always chocolate!

lol--no chocolate today, but there is cheesecake for later and earlier, we presented a couple of flats with viola and pansy and a white mini rose which will go in a planter below her window..
i didnt find any caltha in flower, but many in bud, clipped one, we will see if it opens; lots of petasites, clipped a couple of those too--very sweetly scented..

[Ragged Robin]

i didnt find any caltha in flower, but many in bud, clipped one, we will see if it opens; lots of petasites, clipped a couple of those too--very sweetly scented..

This morning it all started with wondering what petasites were  ....

then I started to search the web   

then I realised they are growing everywhere here   

then I wanted to thank you for your posting   

Cohan, you have done me the most enormous favour with your obvious love and knowledge of wild plants!  Today I found 2 websites that help me with identification of what is growing in general and my zone.  I'm always wondering about and trying to find out the names and links of what I see when out walking here (or anywhere else for that matter) and now the clues are beginning to fit the jigsaw puzzle of the plant world, thank you so much...        

Two sites that are terrific for me:

http://www.borealforest.org

http://www.naturephoto-cz.com

[cohan]

This morning it all started with wondering what petasites were  ....

then I started to search the web   

then I realised they are growing everywhere here   
then I wanted to thank you for your posting   

Cohan, you have done me the most enormous favour with your obvious love and knowledge of wild plants!  Today I found 2 websites that help me with identification of what is growing in general and my zone.  I'm always wondering about and trying to find out the names and links of what I see when out walking here (or anywhere else for that matter) and now the clues are beginning to fit the jigsaw puzzle of the plant world, thank you so much...        
Two sites that are terrific for me:
http://www.borealforest.org
http://www.naturephoto-cz.com

isnt the discovery great fun?
petasites are very common here too--we have one which is mostly in wet grassy areas --these flower the most (probably because they are in the sun!) and another in wooded areas--this one has plants everywhere, you see a leaf or two, but usually no big clumps or displays..
probably some people find them rather boring--certainly not the most dramatic flowers, and not rare at all! BUT, i think they can be quite nice, and in several seasons--esp the arrow leafed form p sagittatus--it has prettier flowers, earliest here of anything, then the flower stalks get taller and taller as they seed, making a great display of fluffy white seed heads, and leaves can become very large-up to 30cm long and rather upright, sometimes in large stands..
i'll post more pics in a different thread...

have fun with your summer of discovery!

[Ragged Robin]

The grass is growing by the day in the meadows and in between the stalks a myriad of wild flowers jewels. It great to just amble along and watch the butterflies and insects floating over them.  They are in such a hurry to find the latest nectar that they are here and there and gone before I've had time to focus.

[Ragged Robin]

more meadow flowers

[Ragged Robin]

In the woodland the silence is broken by a blackbird calling and the crack of a twig under foot.....plenty of good smells everywhere! The new growth on pine and birch weaves a pattern with mountain ash flowers.... light and dark mingle and flowers reach for the sunlight through the branches overhead whilst others linger where it's damp.

[Ragged Robin]

More woodland scenes....

[Ragged Robin]

woodland smells...

[Lvandelft]

I hope you don't mind Robin, but a few plants you pictured very nice here are wrong named.
For instance Viola biflora is not like this.
Geranium sylvaticum should be G. sanguineum and Ranunculus alpestris looks more like a Potentilla.
The Doronicum is a Hieracium.

But I fully agree, walking in spring in a mountain maedow is something special.

[ranunculus]

Lovely images Robin, many thanks for posting.  Just a gentle nudge that your Ranunculus alpestris is actually a potentilla ... probably P. sterilis or P. micrantha.

If you feel REALLY flush with money then I would heartily recommend Flora Helvetica by Konrad Lauber and Gerhart Wagner, but don't expect to be able to carry it in your rucksack.  

[ranunculus]

Exceptional timing, Luit ... you beat me by less than a minute!   

[ranunculus]

It is a very steep learning curve Robin, but always a joy to go to lessons.     Your Ajuga pyramidalis is probably A. reptans or A. genevensis ... I would need to see the foliage.

Do not worry too much about names ... they will come.

[Maggi Young]

Robin, a lovely walk with super photos but what I am enjoying as much as anything are your delightful descriptions..... a real pleasure to read, Thank You 

[Ragged Robin]

Thanks to all, I was waiting for the avalanche of miss-ID's but I only have my french book of flora of the Mountains and searching on the web.  However, if it is not a bore to correct me I would greatly appreciate some help on the ascent of the steep learning curve