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Flowers of the Jura mountains

The Jura mountains are a haven for wildflowers due to the well-drained soils and other environmental conditions, and are home to over 950 flowering plant species. The Jura is made up of limestone, a sedimentary rock that offers the perfect growing conditions for a wide variety of flowering plants; in particular, the slopes and plateaus of the Jura from between 1000m and 1800m, where the grazing pastures are opened up to cattle in the summer and covered with snow in the winter. These areas suffer from relatively little agricultural chemical change, leaving natural meadows where a variety of species will flourish. Wildflowers appear as early as March and wilt away as late as October, depending on the year.

The best months to see the alpine meadows in their full beauty is between June and early August, when a range of colours scatter the hillsides, leaving scents of perfume lingering, which can be tasted in the local Alpage cheeses of the region.

Bladder campion; field scabious; yellow gentian; alpine pasqueflower (seeded); plume knapweed; greater masterwort