As Ernie Wise might have wrote, here are some wild flowers what I seen on my holidays.
We visited Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia & Bulgaria. We were longest in Albania & Bulgaria and most of the photos come from the latter, not due to it having more wild flowers than the others but because we were on a wildlife tour, spending nearly all our time in wild areas. Most of the Macedonia photos come from one short but lovely walk, in the town of Ohrid, through woodland up to the castle.
On arrival in Albania, the first thing that struck the eye was the blossom of Judas trees (cercis siliquastrum) and splendid blue-purple irises. Over time, the Judas tree blossom was superseded by what I thought was white laburnum but which might have been black locust tree (robinia pseudoacacia), with contributions from horse chestnut and lilac.
There were poppies everywhere – mainly, but not only, what we think of as typical wild poppies. In Bulgaria, we saw splendid specimens with black spots on their petals. But the most beautiful were in Macedonia – swathes of deep, rich red poppies, unfortunately by the side of the motorway, so I was unable to take a photo.
Another theme was euphorbias, many different species including some six foot giants by Ali Pasha’s Castle in Albania.
One flower I’d have liked to have seen but didn’t is the Orpheus flower (haberlea rhodopensis). As its name suggests, it’s native to Bulgaria’s Rhodope Mountains (also found in northern Greece) and flowers at the end of May. Legend has it that it was in the Rhodope Mountains, at a cave called the Devil’s Throat, that Orpheus descended into the underworld in search of Eurydice. The flower itself is remarkable for its ability to survive without water for more than three years. It likes damp, shady, rocky places and has an RHS AGM award.
Here are some photos I took – some of which I’ve been able to put a name to, but far from all. Help with identification would be most welcome!
Hello, Thanks fro this post! Really interesting and useful for some research I’m doing for a project. I think that the flower labeled ‘a beautiful mystery’ is Lysimachia atropurpurea (Purple Loosestrife).
Thank you Jo for going to the trouble to share your holiday photos. I enjoyed looking at them. Will look again later and see if I can identify the mystery ones.
Aileen