This is a nice new edimental Allium, although its identity is still being discussed by the experts!
I received seed of this a few years ago from my friend Hristo Hristov in Bulgaria under the name “mountain slizun” He wrote: “The woman who sent them to me is not an avid collector, so I highly doubt she knew it’s Latin name. I guess the seeds were collected near her city in Kazakhstan (map of the collection location: http://tinyurl.com/hdt5pk6)
Slizun is Allium nutans, but the name she called it could be just how she calls it”
Based on pictures I posted on the Alliorum forum last year,Mark McDonough thought it’s probably a hybrid, although with close affinity to the flowers of Allium flavescens. However, the leaves of my plant are broader than that species. Other possibilities are both Allium senescens and A. nutans both of which are found in Kazakhstan. This year there was some variation in flower colour, one quite pink (I guess I planted several seedlings). Whatever it is, it’s a nice plant.
Oystercatcher / tjeld family at Grilstad, taken on my bike ride back from work! ;)
Aster tripolium (syn Tripolium vulgare) / sea aster / strandstjerne bottom right in the water near the end :)
Pictures from my cycle home from work with a large detour up into the woods to pick bilberries and fungi!
The video that comes first is the magical moment when I discover a large ring of hedgehog fungi in the forest :)
Saksvikkorsen on the pilgrim’s way into Nidarosdommen in Trondheim
Viewpoint at Saksvikkorsen on the pilgrim’s way into Nidarosdommen in Trondheim. Good views into Trondheim after a steep climb from the fjord! I’m about half way up from the fjord to the bilberry woods (my destination) here!
View over Trondheim from Saksvikkorsen with the new Grilstad marina in the foreground and Bymarka behind…
View over Trondheim from Saksvikkorsen
View over Trondheim from Saksvikkorsen with the new Grilstad marina in the foreground
Stephen Barstow 43 mins · The Pilgrim’s bench
112 km to walk on the pilgrim’s way to the historical village Stiklestad..
Masses of bilberries / blåbær!
Masses of bilberries / blåbær!
Masses of bilberries / blåbær!
Good bilberry / blåbær terrain!
A few chantarelles / kantarell on the way up
White gold…ring of hedgehog fungi / piggsopp
Beautiful cirrus clouds (James Yeoman?) on the way home
Beautiful cirrus clouds (James Yeoman?) on the way home
Sunset
The mushroom haul: Birch bolete (rødskrubb), chantarelle, saffran milk caps (matriske) and hedgehog fungus (piggsopp)
Birch bolete (rødskrubb), chantarelle (kantarell) and saffran milk caps (matriske)!
The haul from my cycle ride home (arriving home at 10:30 pm with only bilberrries for dinner!) apart from, bottom left, which are saskatoon berries picked in my garden!
Here’s more evidence for the importance of having sparrows in our gardens! In the video can be seen both house and tree sparrows (gråspurv og pilfink) feeding on diamond back moth (kålmøll) larvae from kale leaves!
While we’re on the subject of taro (Colocasia esculenta), I’m reminded that it can make an excellent edimental house plant which I put out in the garden in summer! The dark leaved cultivars such as Black Magic are particularly edimental!
Collection of taro, tarua and Papyrus in my pond area some years backIn flowerIn flowerIn flowerYou can even harvest once a year!
I remember posting an article about a new material that had been developed inspired by the water repellent leaves of Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla spp.). Another species with very high water repellence (so-called superhydrophobicity) is the root vegetable taro (Colocasia esculenta) . Here it is demonstrating what is known as the Lotus effect on my balcony! See more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_effect
On the final morning of the Naturplanteskolen visit to Norway, we visited the Ringve botaniske hage in Trondheim. We started with the Renaissance garden, comprising a collection of 123 useful plants mentioned in Norway’s first gardening book, Horticultura, from 1694! We then wandered through the arboretum where mainly coniferous trees are planted geographically around the central pond, representing the Arctic Ocean! We stopped at the pond to talk about one of the world’s most useful plants,known as Supermarket of the Swamps in North America, Bulrush, cattails or dunkjevle! We passed a glade of Mandchurian walnuts (no nuts to be seen this year), then on to a naturalistic planting of Hosta, marvelled at the collection of old perennials, had a quick look at some interesting useful plants in the systematic garden, before finally walking through the “Parken” to the music museum from where we said our goodbyes :( See the picture galelry at the bottom of this page!
In 2002 I made a renaissance salad containing 80 of the plants in this garden at the opening ceremony. Here’s a document showing what was included, more information and the Middle Age recipe used:
Finally, here’s a little video showing the bulrush / dunkjevle pollen!
The Renaissance Garden at Ringve is a tribute to the first Norwegian book of gardening, published in Trondheim in 1694. Both the geometrical form and the plants in the Renaissance Garden follow guidelines in the book. The division into quarters and symmetrical beds are part of the Renaissance idea that man could master nature. The plants were all useful, and are a mix of vegetables, medicinal plants, herbs, fiber plants, and ornamental plants. The Renaissance Garden holds 123 species or varieties of species. The plant labels give information about the name and the traditional usage of each plant, also in English. A list of the plants´ scientific names is found here: http://www.ntnu.no/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=3c71f8ca-322c-4b20-b403-a28579b587bb&groupId=10476 The first Norwegian book of gardening was called “Horticultura” and was written by Christian Gartner, who was a “city gardener” of Trondheim in the late 1600s. He wrote the book to promote gardening in Mid-Norway at a time when this was considered to be very far north.
Allium x proliferum / / Egyptian onion / luftløk – this was a suprise as my research has only managed to trace these hybrid onions back to 1794, in Germany. Must check if these are mentioned in Horticultura?
Roseroot / rosenrot
Gentiana purpurea / søterot is a rare wild plant in our area and a fantastic plant when in full flower… See http://artskart.artsdatabanken.no/FaneKart.aspx?Date=0,0&LnID=102180&GPND=True&DT=11111&BBOX=-921992,6424201,1960159,7966051&Height=765&Width=1430
Kåre with Gentiana lutea
Cnicus benedictus / Blessed Thistle / Benediktinertistel
Salvia officinalis
Chicory / sikkori
Mustard heavily attacked by diamond back moth (kålmøll)
Garlic / hvitløk
We talked about how the use of the nutritious pollen of bulrush / dunkjevle had been used as a flour to make pollen cakes in all continents!
Edible bulrush /dunkjevle rhizomes…
Juglans mandscurica / Manchurian walnut glade
Mini kiwis with fruit! (Actinidia kolomikta) :)
Ground cover of edible Hostas in the Far East forest area
Oplopanax horridus…a bit dry here for this moisture loving forest plant that can be 3m tall!
The collection of old perennials
Admiring a double sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica)
A double Martagon lily
I was surprised to see Mertensia ciliata here… I hadn’t noticed this before in the old perennials garden…a good perennial vegetable from North America :)
There is also a collection of old perennial herbs…here an old chive / gressløk
An old turnip from mid-Norway
Søren Holt’s favourite herb tea is from this plant, Bergenia cordifolia!
Several people commented on Inula royleana in full flower. This plant is from the Himalaya, is not edible but has been used medicinally.
Platycodon grandiflorus / balloon flower is cultivated in the far east for its edible roots. It seems to grow very well at Ringve. I’ve struggled to overwinter it in Malvik.
A well deserved rest after 4 energetic days!
Rheum alexandrae in seed… do the leaf bracts protect the seed from rain?
Rheum alexandrae in seed… do the leaf bracts protect the seed from rain?
On the 2nd day of the Malvik permaveggies course, we walked the Homlastien (path along the mighty Homla river) from the waterfall down to the station at Hommelvik! As always it takes longer than expected and my estimated 4 hours became 6-7 hours with all the stops!
See the pictures here:
