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The earliest of the gentians, the brilliant blue spring gentian (Gentiana verna) appears from March until August, and is followed at various altitudes and in different habitats by the extravagant trumpet gentians (G. clusii and G. kochiana), the blue-lilac field gentian (Gentianella campestris), the tall blue, multi-flowered willow gentian (G. asclepiadea) that appears in both wooded areas and damp meadows, and the tallest of them all, the great yellow gentian (G. lutea) that grows to more than 1m in height and flowers between June and August.

Growing among stony meadows and rock debris, the large flowered leopardsbane (Doronicum grandiflorum) is a 6–50cm tall member of the daisy family with custard yellow head, very similar in appearance to Arnica montana which appears in meadows and open woods.

Along the edge of woodland straggles of powder-blue alpine clematis (Clematis alpina) twist tendril-like around tree trunks and low branches, the flowers at their best in late June or July. But it is the alpenrose, or dwarf rhododendron (Rhododendron ferrugineum), that makes its presence known both nearby and from a distance, with its mass of pink-to-scarlet flowers spreading across the hillsides (preferring acid soils, but equally at home among limestone), from open woods to the edge of screes.