Switzerland July 2007

[Diane Clement]

Thlaspi rotundifolium growing under the seats and in the scree

[Diane Clement]

Saxifraga exarata (I think?)
And the famous pink buttercup in profusion (are you awake Cliff)

[Diane Clement]

The next day was the only one that was wet and miserable.  We went to the Schnige Platte Alpine garden  but took no pictures on account of the rain and cloud.  It was also VERY cold up there. 
But next day the sun shone again for us

Early morning over the Jungfrau

[Diane Clement]

This was a pleasant walk through alpine meadows and woodland
Gentiana purpurea
Cirsium acaule
Vaccinium vitis idaea
Campanula cochlearifolia
Campanula barbata alba

[Diane Clement]

And a stunning sunset to end the day, not easily reproduced by camera.  Jungfrau and Silberhorn just catching the last pink glows of the sun in a halo of cloud

[Diane Clement]

And on our last day, we caught the bus to the end of the Lauterbrunnen valley to Stechelberg.  At the end of the valley there are no cable cars or trains to assist with the climb.  But the stunning scenery there makes the 1000m climb to the Schmadribach falls and up to Obersteinberg worthwhile.
 
Lauterbrunnen valley
Setting off

[Diane Clement]

On the way
Parnassia palustris
Daphne mezereum
Campanula latifolium
Listera ovata (I think)
Veratrum album (why do the leaves of this look like Gentiana lutea??)
Astrantia major

[Diane Clement]

And a couple of views of the Schmadribach falls

[Diane Clement]

That's enough, time to go back home and pot up all those bulbs ...

[Brian Ellis]

Thanks for sharing the trip with us Diane, as always, great to see the plants in their natural habitat.  Loved the general views too.

[tonyg]

Diane - Thanks for this great tour of two places that I have visited.  It is great to see what is in flower later in the season than when I went.

It was really COLD when we were at Kleine Scheidegg at the end of May!  The Wigwam and its Biergarten were closed!

[ranunculus]

Many, many thanks Diane for sharing such lovely images....yes, I WAS awake earlier, but Sue and I were sharing a bottle or three of wine with Brian and Shelagh and your lovely sister Carol so I had to wait until midnight to enjoy those fabulous pink buttercups.....certainly worth the wait....any seeds in the mud on your boots?

[Maggi Young]

This is a great "holiday" for me.... only one complaint, no pix of the food and what on earth is the charming hiking companion and other half called... I hate to be so formal as to address him  only as Mr Clement !

[mark smyth]

very good show. Did you know all the plants or do you have a plant guide book?

[Diane Clement]

Did you know all the plants or do you have a plant guide book?

We've been visiting this area for 25 years so I feel like I "know" most of the plants, but putting the correct name is not always so easy.  And there's always surprises because of different weather conditions.  I'd never seen Erictrichium before (in Europe anyway) as we have always been too late for it before.

As to the fieldguides, I always take Collins Alpine Flowers by Kit Grey Wilson and Marjorie Blamey as it is the only one I have that is light enough to carry in a rucksack.  But because it covers the whole mid-European mountain ranges from the Pyrenees to Roumania, it is not detailed enough for any one area.  When I get home I have to consult larger tomes such as Flora Alpina and Flora Helvetica and also Flora Europaea (the latter I am privileged to hold the AGS seed distribution's copy because I need it when checking names of donations). 

But it is still a struggle to name a fraction of what we see, I tend to photograph the "easier" ones!  So no guarantee that any of my names are correct, but glad to have any corrections.