Meanderings and Musings

Jane Sterndale-Bennett

Summer 2004

Now that we have a society especially for the members of the Ranunculaceae family I have begun to think about where they grow in the wild and I have become deeply impressed by their ability to adapt to many different habitats around the world and then to settle into gardens when brought into cultivation.

I happily accommodate delphiniums, anemones, aquilegias and thalictrums in my chalky garden in north west Hampshire and I wanted to see how these plants grew in the Celestial Mountains in central Asia. In June I was fortunate enough to visit the Tien Shan mountains of Kazakhstan where I was enchanted by the multitude of glorious flowers, many of them members of our buttercup family. I walked through a drift of Delphinium confusa in a high mountain meadow where the whole hillside was a symphony of blues. The waist high delphinium was the dominant plant, accompanied by globes of sky blue Allium caeruleum, narrow dark purple spires of Veronica spuria and a froth of pale mauve and cream Nepeta pannonica, all interspersed with a lacy white umbellifer, Scaligera setacea. This would be a winning combination in any garden but here unsurpassable wtth a backdrop of snow capped mountain peaks.

Along the shady banks of fast running mountain streams I saw deep wine red aquilegias. This was Aquilegia atrovinosa, with perfect semi-double flowers wafting a delicate scent. Lower down at the edge of woodland the ferny foliage of Thalictrum simplex with tiny brick red flowers nestled amongst the hanging bells of Codonopsis clematidea in palest blue.

In the high alpine meadows the ground was carpeted with forget-me-nots and alchemilla and stately spires of a pinky-mauve Aconitum leucostomum stood guard beside marmot holes.

On one memory making day we climbed up to a ridge at 3000m to find sheets of Trollius altaicus glowing at the base of melting patches of snow. I have never seen such a vivid deep orange flower. To add to the picture a small yellow buttercup, Ranunculus rubrocalyx, flourished here too with patches of a cream Anemone protracta.

Finally, at the highest extent of my climbing ability, at 3400m amongst jumbled rocks and slippery scree I found a brilliant emerald green cushion studded with pale pink, orange centred globes - Paraquilegia anemenoides - pure perfection.

I shall continue to admire and try to grow as many Ranunculaceae as possible in my own garden, even if I can't replicate the mountain setting where I saw such beauty.