Alpine rock garden and peat bog

Highland alpine environments and peatland are showcased in a specific and well tended sector of the garden. The alpine rock garden presents a particularly rich flora consisting of true pioneering plants, which over time have adapted to the most extreme climate conditions, environments starved of resources, and severe temperatures. Their characteristics speak volumes about the strategies they adopt to ensure their survival. Since the low temperatures prevailing for most of the year cause the groundwater to freeze, cranberry and milkwort combat the resulting drought by shrinking their stems and leaves, which become thick and coriaceous to minimize water loss by transpiration, whereas houseleeks “fatten up” their leaves, turning them into tiny cisterns. Dwarf willows have grown smaller, and saxifrages compacted themselves into cushion-like clumps to combat the force of the wind and the weight of the snow. The edelweiss — unmistakable queen of the Alpine flora — adopts yet another strategy: its leaves are covered by fine hairs that trap moisture and help to minimize the loss of water. In spring and summer, moreover, many of these species flower conspicuously, attracting pollinators and exploiting the brief season favourable for reproduction to best advantage. Alongside the alpine rock garden is a space dedicated to peat bogs, formed by the accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter in which the stagnation of water and low temperatures combine to prevent decomposition. These acidic and oxygen-poor soil conditions favour a significant growth of mosses — sphagnum — which form living carpets, the ideal habitat for carnivorous plants like sundews.