The Chilean Andes

Meanwhile back home

"O, Wind if winter comes, can spring be far behind"

Percy Shelley

I have been enjoying an increasing collection of Amaryllids, some of the tender varieties I bloom in the winter in the house and grow on the patio in the summer months. These sure do brighten the dreary winter days of January and February of which Western Oregon has so many. 

Sprekelia formosissima
This is a fun one to see bloom in the middle of winter, like a Whirling Dervish dressed in Red,
The Aztec lily is a winter stunner

The Hippeastrums are a new found favorite. I got a few of the hybrid ones on
A deep discount clearance sale after christmas. But the bloom when you need the
Flowers the most. After the Holiday season is over but before the spring has come.

I took a walk around the garden to see what was poking up this weekend,
Some of the early crocus are up and in bloom now. 

Just playing around with the Macro lens and the F stop at 2.8

I know it's artistic and doesn't really capture the whole of the flower
But I went looking for the Macro details and the only way to get this one was to focus on the
Stamens. 

Narcissus willkommii
Adds its heady perfume to the greeenhouse in the winter. 

The winter rock garden is looking great.

The weather wasn't half bad this weekend even thought the forecast called for thick skys laden with heavy rains, the Sun was out for almost all of Saturday and Sunday was dry all morning. Temperatures in the mid to upper 50's had the honey bees flying (yeah!!! They made it through the winter) and some early spring buds starting to swell. 

Cheers, 

Mark

Chile 2020

I'm not going to delve super in to depth on the Chile trip on my blog, mostly because I'm putting together a travel lecture for my work at the Lord and Schryver Conservancy. I'll just put these here and you'll have to sign up for the Lord and Schryver Conservancy newsletter to find out when the big lecture is going down!

I will say that driving 1500 miles down the western spine of the Andes affords one a look at a great diversity of plants. Below is just a small teaser of what I saw and photographed. 

I counted 11 different species of Calceolaria, a genus I've always had an interest in and it was great to see the diversity of habitats, as I photographed species growing from the top of alpine volcacnos, to moist river bottoms. 

 

I can't say I was disappointed in anything on this trip, but all the Rosulate violet's we did run across were not quite in full bloom. Oh well, I guess I have to go back!

The alpine Nassauvia's were stunningly beautiful! In fact I came back with a whole new list of seeds to look for to try in the rock garden. 

Valeriana fonckii
At Chillan, I used to grow our little native Valeriana scouleri in troughs and I think I'll be looking for seed of this alpine charmer. 

Solenomelus segethii
This was a new genus for me, in the iridacea and closely allied with Sisyrinchium and Olysinium, This one growing very high up in rocky places at Laguna de Maule

Be still my beating heart! I love the monkey flowers and to get to see some of the South American ones was a real lifetime achievement, These were growing in wet snow melt seeps in the cliffs above Laguna de Maule. 

The natures rock gardens in the Andes were a real treat, so much diversity it was mind boggling. 

As I said, stay tuned for a lecture on the botanical adventure across Chile, and if you aren't a supporter of the Lord and Schryver Conservancy please consider it, they have allowed me to do some amazing things in the plant world!

Misty, foggy, Martin Luther King day here in the Valley, praying for peace as Dr. King did in his, so do we in these times and years ahead. 

Mark

Starting the New Decade in Chile

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”  Mark Twain

I rung in the new year, actually a new decade, on a most amazing journey. 

Chile, 1500 miles of it in a 4x4 exploring, and botanizing with my wonderful friend Jane McGary. We found some fantastic plants, partied with a family to ring in the new year at a hot springs at the end of a dusty, one lane jeep track, saw dinosaur tracks and foxes, giant condors and ancient trees and traveled enough lattitude to go from arid steppe to subtropical forest. 

Here are a few of the Amaryllids we saw:

A nice pink Rhodolirium montanum
Termas De Flaca, Chile

Rhodolirium montanum
La Parva, Chile

Rhodolirium montanum
Has survived the obvious grazing pressure at the La Parva ski area. These specimens were growing
in the cow pattied pasture of the ski slopes with both horses and cows free ranged to the detriment of much of the alpine flora. Thanks to the presence of toxic alkaloids, these plants have survived. The Amaryllidacea has had over 200 alkaloids identified some of which have shown anti tumor characteristics. 

Rhodophiala advena
on the way to Chillan

What a wonderful specimen!
We unfortunately discovered that earthquakes at the Chillan area had caused landslides that wiped out some alpine meadows and the subsequent rebuilding of the ski area hotels and development of the hot springs had changed the flora. But found some great plants on the drive up to the top of the mountain. 

Rhodophiala montana
on the road to Laguna de Maule
The Laguna de Maule area was so amazing! Awesome alpines up at the top of the pass!

More to come on this amazing adventure but I have some 2000 pictures to go through and get my travel lecture together for the Lord and Schryver conservancy first!

It snowed off and on today, and it's below freezing out right now, temperatures are supposed to moderate a bit in the next few days though. 

Cheers, 

Mark