Discovering the alpine wildflowers

Down in the valley, haymaking has already begun. But as you climb towards Arolla, summer reveals itself differently: in the mid-mountain it is a burst of bloom. The road runs alongside broad meadows scattered with a thousand wildflowers, and every bend uncovers a new shade. This is the time of year when the mountain dresses in its finest colours — the fleeting ones of the weeks that follow the snowmelt.

The colours of summer

In the green meadows, a handful of species set the tone of the season. You meet them in the very first fields, along the path that climbs to the village, without having to look far.

• The orchid, first of the wild orchids, standing in the tall grass.
• Meadow salsify, whose yellow flowers follow the course of the sun.
• Forget-me-not, a tender little blue scattered close to the ground.
• Mountain cornflower, a deep blue with finely cut petals.
• Carthusian pink, a vivid pink in tight clusters.
• European globeflower (Trollius europaeus), a golden sphere closed upon itself, emblem of damp meadows.
• White wild lilies, dotting the meadows with pale flecks.

To these common species, for anyone who takes the time to look, are added true rarities. The lady’s slipper (Cypripedium calceolus), the most legendary of our wild orchids, hides in the half-shade of the undergrowth. Later in the season come the martagon lily, with its nodding, speckled flower, and the edelweiss, the felted star of the heights, become the very symbol of alpine flora.

A mountain flower lasts only a few weeks. That is precisely its worth: you have to be there at the right moment.

From balconies to forests

Flowers are not a matter of meadows alone. In Arolla, as throughout the Valais, the villages bloom in the warm season: red geraniums and surfinias spill from balconies and windows, the fountains are wreathed in them. It is a typically Swiss sight, tended year after year, that accompanies a stroll through the heart of the hamlets.

In the forest of larches and Swiss stone pines that borders the hotel, flowering follows its own calendar. The carpets of spring gentians give way to the time of the rhododendrons. A symbol of mountain hiking, it is sometimes called the mountain acacia, for bees love it — and the honey it yields is among the most sought-after. At the level of the high pastures, around 2,000 metres, flowering reaches its peak: a variety of wildflowers that makes the whole richness of this high-altitude biodiversity.

Look, but do not pick

Some of the most beautiful species are protected in Switzerland — the edelweiss and the lady’s slipper among them — and picking them is forbidden. The rule is simple and suits the mountain well: admire them, photograph them, leave them where they are. It is also the surest way to know they will flower again next summer.

All summer long, our mountain guides take guests onto the trails of Arolla to discover these wildflowers. You learn to name them, to recognise the habitats that shelter them, to read the meadow anew. A gentle way of walking, with your nose close to the ground as much as your eyes on the peaks.

A summer stay at the Grand Hôtel & Kurhaus is the promise of mornings like these: set off on foot from the garden, cross the flowering meadows, return for tea in the lounge. The mountain at its closest, at the height of a flower.