Allium not just for food

The genus Allium is very diverse, there are over 800, maybe even over 1000 species. They are distributed throughout the northern hemisphere. Among them we can find many species that are used in kitchens all over the world. One is the foliage and the other is the onion. Some of the alpine species are very popular and rare.
One of the most beautiful comes from the Italian Alps, it grows between Lake Como and Lake Garda at up to 2100 m above sea level.
Appropriately, it bears the name Allium insubricum, its pink to brugundy red, hanging flowers are umbel-like, bell-shaped.

The Guggerbachtal-Alpinum open again

The coveted meconopsis (false poppies) begin to flower.

The false poppies are very popular in the garden world, but tricky fellows. They all come from great heights, up to over 6000 m above sea level in the Himalayas. In the garden you need similar requirements as in the distribution area. They grow on mineral mostly acidic, silicate soils, with deep limestone. For this they need enough moisture and high UV radiation, especially during their vegetative growth. The best known false poppies are the blue flowering species. But there are also species that bloom pink, red, violet, white and yellow. Some are dwarfs, only 10 cm tall, others reach up to 180 cm. About 45 species are known, of which there are short-lived and long-lived. The short-lived are mostly monocarpic. This means they flower only once in their life and survive by self seeding. Most monocarpic species flower in the second or third year after sowing. But if the weather doesn’t suit them, they like to push the flowers a little ahead of them and bloom a year or two later.

Workcamp at Schatzalp

As it has been for many years, eight volunteers from “Service Civil International” are currently working at Schatzalp.
During their two-week deployment, they are mainly active in the work against Lupins. This serves to preserve habitats, since the Lupins are considered invasive Neophytes from North America and like to overgrow entire areas. Therefore, they are dug up in places worthy of protection and cut back in other places before self seeding. In order to maintain biodiversity on the Schatzalp meadows, hand sickles and scythes are generally used instead of string mowers or brushcutters. This makes the manual work of the volunteers all the more important. The volunteers are also involved in weeding and sterilizing compost.
Some volunteers keep coming back, such as Ana, who has been at the Schatzalp for the first time in 2010 and is now doing her 3rd assignment. For her it is a special and magical place. “I love diversity and nature. That’s why such a garden should be preserved for at least 1000 years,” she says. She also enjoys the peace and quiet and that she can benefit from the wealth of knowledge in the Alpinum. In the team, she also gains an insight into other cultures, other generations and worlds of thought with which she otherwise has no contact in everyday life, she adds.

Time of the Turk`s Cap Lilies

The Turk’s Cap Lily, Lilium martagon, has a very wide distribution, it occurs throughout Eurasia, west of Portugal through S. France and further to the east. Central and southern Italy and western N-Europe are left out. Otherwise, the distribution area goes as far as Siberia, northern Mongolia, and the southern Caucasus. This is also the reason for some varieties and forms. The species forms its own section, which botanists call the Martagon section. This can be recognized by the typical Turk’s Cap shape with the petals bent back and the pistils and stamens protruding far. All varieties grow on limestone, but can also be found on other soils, sometimes also in silicate. They do not tolerate garden humus and rich soil in the root area, which is why they are often regarded as difficult to keep. They can climb up to more than 2100 m high in the mountains. Deer love the buds, one reason why we find them with difficulty in some places in the Alps, although they grow in large numbers here. In the case of repeated grazing damage, they can retreat into the ground for several years to regain their strength.