Last week whilst the UK has basked in a mini heatwave, I was walking in the Picos de Europa (northern Spain) enjoying the wild flowers of alpine meadows.
The mountain weather was much cooler than here and trees were only just coming into leaf. One high altitude walk was curtailed by snow and cloud and our alternative lower altitude walk was through a hail storm. However I spotted wild Narcissus I have never seen before, notably the tiny Narcissus asturiensis (the size of a Euro coin), a lone Narcissus bulbocodium, lots of Narcissus triandrus and on the last day, high up valleys of Narcissus pseudonarcissus.
Other highlights included orchids, especially the lovely pink butterfly orchid (Orchis papilionacea) and Erythronium dens-canis.
I love walking in the mountains as you see so many plants that we grow in our gardens, it reminds me of the 19th century plant collectors and the task they set themselves of getting what they thought were interesting plants, safely back to the UK down difficult rocky paths with mules.
Lithospermum diffusum grows almost everywhere on free draining rocky land whilst Primula veris
It is a fine way of learning and appreciating native habitats of our garden plants.