TURKISH TAURUS IN AUTUMN 2008 (organised by Greent
26th October – 9th November 2008
£1995 per person (single supplement £165)(land tour £1665 Gaziantep - Dalaman)
Led by Chris Gardner and Basak Güner
A magical display of autumn bulbs garlands the glorious late autumn landscapes of Turkey’s Taurus Mountains. Three species of Cyclamen cloak woodland floors and tawny mountain slopes are decorated by white, pink and yellow bulbs. What could be better than the purple-centred ivory flowers of rare Crocus mathewi, unless it is even rarer Crocus wattiorum, a wonder with purple-blue flowers enriched with scarlet stigmas and yellow and black stamens. Bright pink Colchicum cilicicum line rocky defiles. Under ancient gnarled plane trees are massed displays of Galanthus peshmeni and pine and juniper dotted slopes host rare Colchicum sanguicolle. A cloak of Cyclamen graecum colours ancient Phaselis, the ruins secondary to the near perfect setting of little bays and pinewoods. Set in crevices in purest white limestone are pockets of pink Merendera attica and Colchicum stevenii. Golden Sternbergia clusiana and troupes of Colchicums polyphyllum, dolichantherum and persicum adorn high passes around Fevzipasa and we'll encounter many-flowered Colchicum decaisnei and bizarre Biarum bovei near ancient Daphne.
