Welcome to my zone 9 garden. My roots are deeply planted in the sandy soil of sub-tropical central Florida, where the summers are long and hot, but the rest of the year is paradise!

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Alpine Gardens of Switzerland

Week 2 was spent mostly in the little village of Zermatt, Switzerland where you will find fantastic views of the Matterhorn.

 For several days we took the ski lift up to the mountains where we enjoyed hiking about on the vast tundra - some grassy, some barren, some covered with patches of snow and pockets of pretty little alpine flowers.

The weather up here was sunny but quite chilly since there are still patches of snow dotting the mountain sides and aqua marine pools of glacier water.

There are pockets and patches of tiny alpine flowers everywhere. Sometimes it's hard to see them until you're up close because of their diminutive size.

All in pretty spring colors


Here's a really tiny pink one


A striking blue.

Look at this wonderful little tinkerbell-like flower that just gives a hint of what's inside. 

Who knew it would be this wild wiry puff of a flower inside.


This one looks like a succulent of some type.

 We also enjoyed hiking the city below . . .

including this boardwalk which took us up high into the trees to see a waterfall gushing with melted snow from the mountains. 

 

Eventually all that melted snow ends up as a river running at a brisk pace through the center of Zermatt.

All along the hiking trails are wild rhododendrons and roses.

Zermatt is a car-less town with lots of things to see and do in both summer and winter.

 There are plenty of geranium-filled flowerboxes.

So this is what you do with all those fallen trees. 

There are many pretty flower gardens,

as well as, interesting gutter decorations.

We even found a small nursery.

 And small but might vegetable gardens growing in their tiny yards.


These super-sized poppies were a favorite of mine. The flowers were almost as large as my hand.


 Lavender is planted everywhere and is alive with the sound of bees getting drunk on the nectar. 

 Hydrangeas are another popular flowering plant.

 These folks opted to keep a postage-stamp sized piece of grass in their orderly little garden.

 We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Zermatt with its Swiss chalet style homes, pretty flowers, fresh air and beautiful vistas. 



6 comments:

Janice said...

What beautiful blooms you found while hiking! I just love the puff ball one. Everything looks so neat and tidy in the residents gardens, very picturesque. I'm trying to imagine how nice it must be to walk about a car-less town, it sounds so peaceful. Thanks for the tour Susan. _Janice

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Thank you for sharing the beauty of Switzerland. DH and I saw the Matterhorn in the early 70's on vacation while he was stationed in Spain for the US Navy. We camped out in a little town near the base, and in the wee hours of the morning we heard a real live cuckoo bird. It sounded just like the little clock birds. :-)

All of those flowers are just beautiful and amazing that they grow there where it is so cold.

Glad you were able to take this trip.

FlowerLady

Susan said...

Janice - I wish there were more car-less towns. It's fun and definitely healthier to walk everywhere. It helped to keep the pounds off from all the yummy Swiss chocolate. LOL

Lorraine - so glad that you got to see the Matterhorn and this beautiful area. Maybe you stayed in this same town. It would have been great to hear a cuckoo bird.

Unknown said...

Oh, wow - what a lovely post! I loved seeing all of your photos, that must have been such a great visit. I love how they pack all those vegetables into little gardens - and I had a chuckle at the little postage size grass square - very cute. Beautiful town and the flowers are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing this Susan!

Anonymous said...

Car-less town . . . that beautiful wooden boardwalk . . . and that waterfall ~ looks like paradise. Your photos continue to be just stunning. I take a virtual vacation every time I read one of your travel posts. I am such a homebody so I really appreciate it when you share your beautiful trips.

Leslie Kimel said...

A car-less town? That sounds heavenly. And everything is so beautiful. I love the flower gardens and flowery window boxes and wonderful architecture. Your pictures are great! The glacier pools seem so magical--such a bright blue. And all the little flowers in the mountains are just lovely. What an awesome time you must have had exploring everything!

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