The development of the Stinzenflora continues in the different estates, but the extent the plants develop can be very different per area. 

At Jongemastate the Bulbous Corydalis is not yet flowering, at Dekema State the Bulbous Corydalis is still in the early stage, while at Stinze Stiens, Philippusfenne and Martenastate the flowering is well under way and at Hackfort and in the Martenatuin they are now fully blooming . At Dekema State the presence of the Bulbous Corydalis increases  in the old and new forest.

The Bird in a Bush blossoms somewhat later than the Bulbous Corydalis, and it starts to blossom now some of the parks. The Wild Daffodil is now thriving at Stinze-Stiens and Hackfort.

At Hackfort the Wood Anemone is abundant and it will reach its peak in flowering coming week. The Oxlips at Stinze Stiens has had some flowers throughout the winter and it is now in full bloom, just like at Hackfort.

Glory-of-the-Snow, Squills and Common Lungwort create a hue of blue at different locations.

At Stinze Stiens, the Dog’s Tooth Violet is thriving in a small spot and its presence is increasing. We will be able to excavate this species this year and replant it over a larger surface so that they can reproduce better. It would be nice if this plant continues to develop well. In the section about our trip to Slovenia you can read more about the Dog’s Tooth Violet and its presence in a (semi-)natural situation.

Differences in growth of the Stinzenplants in different locations are not only due to differences in the weather at a certain location, but also due to differences in the genetic material of plants. The National Institute for Nature Conservation in Leersum conducted research into the Bulbous Corydalis in the years 60-70 of the last century. What they noticed was that the moment of flowering could vary systematically per location. At the time they looked at a number of locations in the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. In Scandinavia, flowering started last and there were also significant differences for the various locations in the Netherlands. To rule out differences in climate, tubers were collected from various locations and planted in pots in the forest in Leersum and they followed them for several years. It turned out that the differences in flowering time still remained. A plant adapts its flowering time genetically to a certain location and that property is retained when it is transplanted. It is therefore possible that the differences in flowering time for locations in the Netherlands are caused by the fact that these plants originate from different locations in Europe.

As promised, now a more detailed report of our study trip to Slovenia in the last week of March 2018. By clicking on the photos you can enlarge them. The aim of the trip was to see as much of what we call Stinzenplants in their (semi-) natural environment and in this way gain more insight into how these species grow in the wild.

At our request, the trip was organised by Paul Veenvliet,  Nature in Colour, http://natureincolour.eu. Because the spring was later than normal, the trip was two weeks late compared to the previous planning. The weather in Slovenia was also abnormal with a warm period at the beginning of the year followed by a very cold period later.

This had the advantage that the flowering of species that normally bloom more spread out over time now partly flourished at the same time, allowing us to observe the diversity of the various species present. Because sites are at different altitude you can usually see different species in bloom that bloom in the Netherlands after each other because the flowering period also depends on the altitude, which has an influence on the temperature.

We have visited many places so we have a good picture of different growing conditions and the vegetation that can occur. We have seen places where many species are partly mixed together and partly close together and places where a dominant species is present with or without a few other species in the same spot. Some places were also very worthwhile in terms of landscape, while others are less so. The trip was in all respects very successful because of the good preparation of the trip by Paul Veenvliet who had visited the places shortly beforehand.

The habitats were often in mixed forests sometimes on slopes sometimes flatter, but also in grasslands. The forests were often a mixed deciduous forest on a subsoil of limestone. The most common tree species were beech and hornbeam, but also various types of oak and maple could be present. Some forests had a certain amount of coniferous trees. Almost all of these forests were also used for wood production.

The growing areas were almost all pretty moist to (very) wet and all pretty rich in nutrients. The soil was generally yellow-brown with a good to very good crumbly texture. These are all factors that are favourable for the flourishing of the majority of Stinzenflora. Sometimes there was only a thin layer of soil on the lime substrate, sometimes the soil layer was thicker. Often it is said in the Netherlands that the Stinzenflora is doing especially well under Lime-trees, this is in itself correct, but as is clear from the foregoing, other deciduous tree species are also no problem, provided that the leaf can digest quite quickly which is promoted by the presence of lime in the soil. underground. In the Netherlands such conditions occur mainly in South-Limburg. Sufficient light in early spring is important for these plant species, but this is guaranteed when the stinzen flora blooms before the trees come in leaf and if the tree cover is not too dense.

The diversity of species that can occur in one place was sometimes enormous. In addition to the species that we know from the Dutch stinzen environments there are often a number of other interesting species present. The most striking and common species is the Dog’s tooth violet (Erythronium dens-canis). The colour of the flowers in Slovenia was always soft red. In other places in Europe, the colour is often light purple, while white flowers also occur. This species was often spread among other stinzen plants.

We have seen the Bear’s garlic in a few places. In one place, the slope of the entire forest floor was covered with Bear’s garlic. Bulbous Corydalis also occurred sporadically with a high degree of coverage. Because this species blooms later it may be that it was present in some places but not yet above ground. This species prefers a somewhat drier environment.

Snowdrops can be found in Slovenia in a rather large diversity of environments and very rarely together with Snowflakes.

Snowflakes were dominant in some very wet forests, while in other places with sufficient moisture the species seemed more scattered. It was striking that in a wet primeval forest with very old large oaks the diversity of species was much less than in the forest in the immediate vicinity of the primeval forest where wood harvesting takes place. Which trees can be cut down is decided in consultation with the government.

We have seen three types of crocus in various places. The Dutch Crocus (Crocus vernus subsp. Vernus), is the species we know from stinzen environments in the Netherlands, although the plants in the Netherlands are often a bit larger than those in the wild. This species can be both purple and white. A clearly smaller version of the Dutch crocus is the Crocus vernus subsp. albiflorus. Although albiflorus means white flower, this variant also occurs in purple, but more often in white.

We have seen beautiful vegetations in a few fields where this little white crocus occurs with the ordinary Snowdrop, which is a beautiful sight when the sun is shining and both are blooming at the same time. A species that we do not know in the Dutch stinzen environments is the Crocus reticulatus. We only saw these in one place.

Although the crocuses often occur in meadows, it was noticeable that the Dutch crocus often also appears scattered in forest environments among other Stinzenplants. Blue Bells did not occur in the various environments we visited, although the beautiful vegetation in the Haller forest in Belgium is a forest with beech trees on a calcareous underground. The biggest difference is probably that the soil in the Hallerbos is a lot drier than the areas we visited in Slovenia.

In some places Wood Anemone and the Yellow Anemone occurred next to each other. Winter Aconites only occur in two places in Slovenia. The largest place is located on a somewhat higher mountain top and there the plants were still under the snow. Often the flowering starts soon after the snow has melted away. The Wild Tulip does not occur in Slovenia. The photographs illustrate the enormous wealth of spring plants that can be admired in Slovenia and also the great diversity of species.

Flowering: start full peak decreasing
Present: here and there regular massive

Stinzenflora-monitor Calendar 2018 week 14. Scroll horizontally to view all plants. Learn more about a terrain or stinzenplant? Click on the name in the table.

Events *:

The participants in the Stinzenflora-monitor organize various activities during the Stinzenflora season.
The events that are now known are listed below.
‘Open gardens’ with private garden owners are often mentioned shortly before in this calendar and on the websites of the participants. Opening up depends on the flowering of the Stinzenplants and the weather.
For possibilities of (group) visits you can contact the relevant participant.

Data: see ESTATES

For your agenda *:

Events April:

Stinze Stiens. Open garden. This year is a special year. Nature is doing very slowly this year. The second phase of flowering of Stinzenplants has now started, almost 2 weeks later than in other years. Stinze Stiens at the Doktershûs (Smelbrêge 6, Stiens) therefore opens up the garden gate on Saturday afternoon 7 April from 1 pm. – 4.00 pm. (free entrance). After the Winter Aconite, Snowdrops and Crocuses you can now enjoy the Bulbous Corydalis and even more spring flowers. The Dog’s Tooth Violet, a special plant that curls up the petals with a glimmer of sun, is in bloom. And under the fruit tree the Scilla siberica colors nice blue. The Wood anemone with its white stars shows itself and the Wild Daffodil blooms beautifully with its soft yellow leaves. Now beautiful details also require attention, such as the beautifully spotted leaf of the Lords-and-Ladies and the beautiful leaf veins of the Italian Lords-and-Ladies. It is a good time to go on ‘Stinzenstruin’, on a Stinzen hike.

Dekema State Jelsum. Museum weekend 14 and 15 April. Spring Fair 28 April: with a Stinzenplants search map you make a tour during these events. For prices, opening times and activities see the website. www.dekemastate.nl

Martenastate Koarnjum. Freely accessible. (www.martenastate.nl) Activities in the context of Leeuwarden-Fryslân 2018: Grien Festival, start Easter Monday 2 April, will last until 15 April. And further: excursions and courses Nature Photography Stinzenflora. For dates, prices and registration see the website http://www.martenastate.nl and It Fryske Gea. http://www.itfryskegea.nl/eropuit

Schierstins Feanwâlden. Museum weekend 14 en 15 April. Tours in the garden and the building. For prices, opening times and activities see the website. www.schierstins.nl 

Announcements:

Tourist brochure ‘Stinzenflora in Friesland’: For everyone who wants to go out in the spring, a new handy brochure ‘Stinzenflora in Friesland’ is also available at the tourist centers and affiliated organizations (VVV’s and TIP’s). It was developed in cooperation of the participants in the Stinzenflora-monitor and the tourist organizations Uytland / Destination Noardwest and the regions De Greidhoeke and Noardlike Fryske Wâlden. The folder provides information in Dutch and English and shows which locations are real thriving hotspots in Friesland.

App Stinzenflora (only for Android): The organization Nature2U has independently developed an app (only for Android) with information about Stinzenflora. In this Stinzenflora app all Dutch Stinzenplants and companions are described with country of origin and details. The app is composed with Stinzenplant specialist Heilien Tonckens and nature photographer Wil Leurs, supplemented with some photos of waarneming.nl . The plants are easy to find with flower color and shape or for florists by family classifying. In addition, there are also overviews of the Stinzenflora of the Vecht region and Friesland.
More information via www.nature2U.nl

* Subject to change. Consult always the websites of the participants for the latest information.

• Volgende: Stinzenflora-monitor 2018: Calendar week 15
• Vorige: Stinzenflora-monitor 2018: Calendar week 13