RHS Harlow Carr alpine house

Recently I visited the Royal Horticultural Society's Harlow Carr in Harrogate. It has a great collection of alpine plants, many of which are flowering right now. It was great to see lots of alpine plants up close (although not as much fun as devoting a summer in the Alps to searching for flowers!).

Alpine plants are a distinct set of plants that are adapted to the mountain environment, and are typically found above the treeline. Large temperature changes, intense sunlight, exposure, and lack of water make this a challenging place to live. The plants have adapted to cope with these conditions. Adaptations include staying close to the ground to reduce exposure, thick or hair-covered leaves to avoid drying out, and reproductive strategies to ensure success in the short growing season. Many species produce big, bold flowers, perhaps to attract the attention of pollinating insects, which are rare at high altitudes?

Despite sharing adaptations, alpine plants are a pretty diverse group: saxifrages, gentians, primulas, cinquefoils, mints...

In Europe alpine plants are typically found above 1400 metres. In the British Isles there is no land above 1400 metres, but you can find alpine plants at lower altitudes; in the mountainous regions of Scotland, the Lake District and North Wales, and even close to sea level on the West coast of Ireland. Its only a small subset of the species you'll find in Europe though, and they tend to be in isolated pockets.

Here are a few of the most charismatic plants I saw in the Harlow Carr alpine house:

Primula allionii

The picture above shows a cultivar of Allioni's primrose, which an inhabits limestone cliffs of the Maritime Alps, which is the Southwesterly part of the Alpine mountain range, on the border of France and Italy.

Like of all of the plants I photographed, Allioni's primrose was growing in a pot submerged in a bed of sand. Because it is adapted to the harsh mountain environment, it likes specific conditions, and this method of growing makes it easier to maintain those conditions.

Saxifraga x. elizabethae

This saxifrage is a hybrid between one-flowered cushion saxifrage (Saxifraga burseriana) which is found in the Eastern Alps across Bavaria, Slovenia, Austria and Italy on rocky limestone, and Saxifraga sancta, which is found in South Eastern Europe (Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey).

Tulipa bifloriformis

This is 'Starlight' a cultivar of Tulipa bifloriformis, which is native to mountain ranges in Central Asia, including the Tien Shan and the Pamirs.

20 minutes in the alpine house and I had been taken on a journey away from cold, blustery Yorkshire, and across the mountains of Europe and Central Asia. Definitely worth a visit!