Purple Saxifrage (Saxifraga Oppositifolia)

Wed. 21st March 2012.
           From the Northern tip of Greenland at 84 degrees north, Northern Spitsbergen, Arctic Canada, Alaska and south through the Rocky Mountains and European Alps at over 4000 metres altitude, this small rare arctic plant gladdens the heart when it bursts into flower in mid-March in what until now is a cold colourless  landscape in our Pennine hills

    This is my Purple Saxifrage growing in my scree garden, I bought it at a garden centre many years ago. When it begins flowering in mid March I wait just one week then set off  for my annual visit to the Pennine hills fairly near to where I live.
    In the British Isles it only grows on lime rich rocks and gravels so it is limited to just a few mountain areas of Scotland, Northern England and Wales with a few plants growing in the Brecon Beacons in South Wales.
      This week is just another of the countless visits we've enjoyed through the many years finding and recording this magical arctic flower and I will never tire of it, the effort is well worth it.

         The landscape in our Pennines where the Purple Saxifrage grows