White Eritrichium nanum on the Padon!!!

[Katherine J]

Julia,
I think next time we go I will announce it on the Forum. There are many members who visit the Dolomites occasionally, it would be nice to meet there some.
I'm really sorry I did not know about you.

[ranunculus]

That is very good idea Kata ... you would be quite surprised by just how many members get out there on a regular basis.

[astragalus]

Katherine, your pictures are intriguing.  We were there last week and it was early although Ranunculus glacialis was in bloom.  I've seen Androsace alpina there often but never Androsace helvetica.  What a wonderful find.  It is one of our favorite places to go. 

[Katherine J]

We were there last week

It would have been a pleasure for me to meet you Anne, I'm an admirer of your garden. Maybe some other time.

[astragalus]

Thank you, Katherine.  Perhaps next year?
This won't compare to your pictures, but one of our finds this year was a white Silene acaulis.  I never saw one before.  You can see by the number of buds that it was still early, but to try and find it again would be difficult.

[Katherine J]

Wow!!! Neither I saw one in the field yet!

We go every year in the Dolomites, there are chances still to meet

[astragalus]

We go every year, too.  I hope we can meet sometime.  Here's an overall view of the silene showing how many buds there are.

[Maggi Young]

That is indeed a fine white form, Anne. Never seen such a one.  The flowers look to be a good size and the foliage is in tip-top health....well done for finding it.... and thank heavens there were batteries in your camera  

[astragalus]

Maggi, I've learned to carry an extra, fully charged battery!

[Katherine J]

Was it on Padon too? (I mean the Silene, not the batteries  )

[astragalus]

No, it was at Vallon (in Corvara), in the sunken meadow behind the Vallon lift.  The meadow is very large and rocky and extends almost to the Rifuggio Franz Kostner.  We wandered the whole meadow and on the edges as it rose to the cliffs.  It was probably on one of the raised edges.

[Lesley Cox]

The white Silene sometimes turns up in commercial catalogues and mine came from a batch of seed just labelled Silene acaulis, AGS I think, maybe 20 years ago. I find it a little harder to keep in good health than the pink. The one pictures in the wild is in perfect condition even though quite a large and therefore a reasonably mature plant.