Why Is Important to Plant an Edelweiss?

       Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum) is a simple and beautiful flower which can be found on mountains at high altitudes like 1000 - 2000 m, but in some cases, you'll see this flower  on smaller mountains a t 600m.  This plant prefers the rocky places and calcareous soils and can be found on alpine pastures in Asia, and on mountains from America and  Europe.   
       The meaning of this flower is " nobless whiteness ", and it is the symbol of pure love.

Photo by Thobias Gasser ( Source: Wikipedia )

        Some ( I must say most of them)of the tourists who visited the mountains  took edelweiss flowers as a souvenir, and during the years, the number of this plant has decreased dramatically. This was the reason why authorities put this plant under protection, and in 1878 Bulgaria, Mongolia , Croatia and Switzerland, edelweiss was a protected plant. Also, edelweiss is a protected plant in Germany, Austria, France, Norway, Serbia, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, etc.
        In Romania this beautiful flower is protected since 1933, and blooms in Nature Reserves in Bucegi Mountains, Maramures Mountains, Fagaras Mountains and in the Apuseni Mountains.
        But why is important to plant an edelweiss ? The answer is very simple. By planting an edelweiss back to its natural habitat, the number of these plants will increase - new places will be repopulated . In this way, edelweiss plants will have a bigger chance to live, grow, and produce seeds which means more plants.
        Another reason is that if this plant will be available as potted plant in stores or markets, those who'd like to decorate their garden with an edelweiss flower, will be able to buy it. The strategy of making from edelweiss a  plant which can be bought of everyone who'd like to decorate her/his garden with this beautiful flower, will stop, or at least, will decrease the number of edelweiss plants which are taken as souvenirs by tourists.
         Knowing these, I decided to start the project " Plant an Edelweiss! ", and in spring I bought edelweiss seeds. I prepared a special calcareous soil and I've seeded the tiny seeds. It was a big surprise when I saw the small plants appearing in the pot.

          Edelweiss plants grow very slowly in the first year and they bloom only from the second year. After two month I had many plants in a pot ready to be separated.

           Today I have about 120 plants . In September these plants will be moved in a bigger pot, and in this way, they will be ready  for winter.

 

           In the next year, I mean in 2013, and if the plants will survive in winter, I'll have edelweiss flowers ready to bloom in June. 

           In winter I am going to update this article so that everyone who likes edelweiss flowers will be informed about the progress of this project.

            Thank you if you'd like to support this project !