Wild Flowers of the Gargano.

I have been away . I really do n’t like leave my garden in April . But I have a Holy Writ which feature the 50 best sites for wild bloom in the humankind .

As a plant buff the idea of seeing plants produce in their lifelike environment is lure . I ’m not an unfearing traveller and I know I ’ll only visit most of these places in my imagination . I am too terrified of snakes and wolves , bears and brigands , upset pot , terrorists , ticks and tropical disease . From my book so far , I have managed Transylvania , ( despite vampires , wolves and bear , ) the Peloponnese , ( not too scary , but fell sheep dogs , ) and the Burren in Ireland , ( not scary at all . )

The Gargano peninsula which is the little spur sticking out from the dog of the boot of Italy has over 2000 mintage of plants and it has the highest concentration of wild orchidaceous plant in Europe . There are over 70 mintage , not count all the hybrids , which make identification very frustrating for scholastic like me who are very bully on the naming of names . The end of April is the dependable time for all these gorgeous crazy flowers and so reluctantly I had to entrust my garden and hope that I would n’t omit too much .

Anemone apennina

But it was worth it . Not only did I get to see glorious scene , an abundance of angry flowers and more wild orchid than I have ever seen before , but my lovely blogging friend , Christina fromMy Hesperides Gardenand her married man , Richard joined us and we had a lovely time together . It is wonderful to deal orchidaceous plant -gazing with like - apt friends . The Pianist was amazed that we could drop so much fourth dimension staring at the ground , and sometimes bid that there was a wall handy where he could see key ironic as a more entertaining choice , but he enjoy the company .

The Gargano was once an island . There is a huge woods of ancient beech Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree romantically called La Foresta Umbra .

Here you may find rug ofAnemone apenninain blue and ashen which are likeAnemone blandabut braggart and tall .

Anemone apennina

Anemone apennina

The pinkAnemone hortensisis the parent of all our modern hybrids .

Anemone hortensis

Narcissus poeticuslooked daintier and more ticklish than domesticate ones . There were pinkCyclamen repandumand a few lingeringCorydalis solida . I read that you may findPaeonia masculain the forest but I had to hold off until I got home to see this in my own garden .

There are broken cliffs and wonderful beaches .

There are limestone uplands which have been carefully terraced and have never been foul by modern agriculture and pesticides .

Anemone apennina

At first sight it looks a bit barren rather like the Burren but there are hayfield which bedazzle with the abundance of wild flowers .

And in the meadows you have the phone of moo-cow Bell from these dainty Podolica cows which despite their expectant horn are not scary at all .

Podolica moo-cow

Anemone hortensis

And neither is this little chap .

And then there are wonderful birds and what a joyousness to have our own well- equipped ornithologist to place them all and give us glimpses of them . I have never image Golden Orioles before and get wind the liquid notes of their song . give thanks you Richard .

The butterflies , insects and reptile were abundant too .

Narcissus poeticus

Amongst all the abundance of flowers we were especially excited by the orchid . Here is Christina getting up close and intimate with them . Christina is surrounded by a ocean of Green wing orchidaceous plant , Anacamptis moriowhich at first glimpse looks like our aboriginal Early Purple but the flowers have stripey hoods .

Anacampsis morio

It come in blank and pink too .

Corydalis solida

Or maybe Christina has spotted the Man Orchid , Orchis anthropophorawhich look as if it has little man dangling from each heyday .

Orchis anthropophora

Or perhaps she is examiningOrchis italica , the anatomically detailed Naked Man Orchid .

Cyclamen repandum

Orchis italica

We also saw the hugeOrchis purpurea , the Lady Orchid but she is decently habilitate in a frock .

Orchis purpurea

The Four - Spotted Orchid was everywhere too . This orchidaceous plant is found mostly in southern Italy

Orchis quadripunctata

The beautiful Pink Butterfly Orchid , Anacamptis papilionaceawas everywhere in great abundance , the colour varies rather a lot .

Anacampsis papilionacea

I have always thought that orchid in the Ophrysfamily were all bee orchids because they imitate bee to pull in pollinators .

Orphys bombyliflora

But this next one is pollinated by sawflies .

Ophrys tenthredenifera

There are so many dissimilar unity . Some of them are clearly loan-blend .

Podolica cow

Some of them like this next one are fecundate by spiders .

Orphys passionis

When we were not drool over orchids we were dazzled by the number of unfounded irises , in home there were whole meadows of them , in shades of purplish , lilac , racy , white and yellow-bellied , each more dainty than than the last . Iris bicapitatawith two head to a stem is endemic in this area . There are alsoIris pseudopumilaandIris lutescens .

The slopes of Monte Sant’Angelo are studded with blooms . There is a sanctuary on top which has draw pilgrims since the time of the reformist . St. Michael is supposed to have made his last appearance here in a cave , which as the Pianist say is a shady blank space to play your word of farewell gig . I am not very well up on Catholic hagiography but I believe St. Michael is an archangel rather than the usual sort of saint who suffered a gruesome end .

Monte Sant’Angelo

I found a deadened nettle grow on the wall here which is special to the Gargano . It is calledLamium garganicum .

genus Lamium garganicum

The Gargano did not seem very shuddery , we did see a masher slinking through the timberland but that was rather exciting . Christina about stepped on a very retentive adder but she was very calm about it and Richard likes snakes and was delighted to see it . These Pine Processionary caterpillar , Thaumetopoea pityocampalooked nasty , they are not to be messed about with , those haired bits can be dangerous .

Pine Processionary Caterpillars

But the most dangerous thing about Southern Italy is cube with demise on the roads with the local drivers who never use their indicator and like playing dodgems on the motorway . But we are home now , dependable and legal with adorable flowery retention .

The sound part of our Italian adventure was spending time with Christina and Richard . Christinais posting her story this morning too . Please go and natter her blog . Her photos are dead sensational .

57 Responses toWild Flowers of the Gargano.

Delightful , absolutely delightful . This blog gets saved under “ You made my Day ” where I can gossip The Gargano at will .

In the US , we ’d say that you and Christina must have been in hog heaven ! What terrific scenery , not to mouth of the range of both flora and fauna . I ’ve never realise any of those orchid before and , if there ’s a speckle in the US with orchids growing in the wilderness in such abandon , I ’ve yet to hear of it . For bitch , I did a quick hunting on - line and , although the US boasts some 250 species of native orchids , 50 % of these are reportedly found only in Florida . I did n’t find any regional parks or preserves claiming mass numbers of them during my cursory check .

OK , now you ’ve added a address to my bucketful lean . Wow ! I had no thought there were so many plant metal money , and wild orchids in particular . Thank you for sharing the information and the beautiful pic !

Italian Wall Lizard Podarcis siculus