Something you should look for in the budding season is the Arontorp rose. From the name, one can guess that it may be found near the place Arontorp, just south of Färjestaden. This yellow beauty is only found in a few places in Europe. Nunnedalen is a very popular excursion destination and there is a rich species flora with the long-awaited spring flowers. In the area around Resmo and Vickleby there are several good parking spaces and you just get out of the car or off the bike, and you are in the middle of the glory. Further north, at the entrance to Ekerum there is a beautiful and well-marked walking trail in the budding oak forest in the area called Halltorps Hage. If you are looking to see something really rare, this is the place to go. There are an unusually large number of red-listed species here. In the latter part of the budding season, Högenäs Orde, a few miles north of Borgholm, is a place where you can discover a number of orchids. Likewise, Karum's seriousness is on central Öland with the famous ship setting Noah's Ark, a good place for orchid spotting. If you want to be sure to see an orchid, a good tip is to head to Skogsbyallvaret where the species richness is great and the area is easily accessible but has excellent parking lots. Take a look at some flower venues below!
The Round of Flowers
Högenäs orde
Few places are as lovely as Högenäs orde. The varying water supply and a long tradition of grazing animals in the area have contributed to the diversity of habitats that flourish here. The calcareous grasslands give a floral splendor with orchids such as Sant Per's keys and Adam and Eve. Follow the moist meadows and find St. John's wrenches, Bridal spur, Honey flowers, Fly flowers, Meadow keys and Majviva. In the centre of the reserve rises a ten-metre-high ridge from which you have a magnificent view of the Baltic Sea and the surrounding landscape.
Södra Greda Löväng
Södra Greda Löväng has a rich flora and fauna due to the tree-bearing meadow that is mowed annually. Alongthe low beach embankment to the west, the grassland flora is dry with species such as sheep fescue. Axveronica, thyme, sunflower and yellow marrow. In the spring you will find plenty of orchids, mainly Adam and Eve. In the east, the ground is healthy and moist, which means that you can see Brown herb. Majviva, Krissla and Blåtåtel. You can also see rare ticks on the oaks such as pale tick, oxtongue fungus and saffron stick.
Halltorps Hage
Visit Halltorp's pasture, which is considered one of the most species-rich areas in Sweden. In the nature reserve there are 13 giant oaks with a circumference over 100 cm. In the spring, the orchids bloom in the area, including anemones in beautiful colours on the southern deciduous meadow. You can also see spring onions, cowslip, toothroot and spring pea. In summer, you can enjoy the view of wild strawberry clover, snake's tongue and chestnut rune.
Karum's Alvar
Karum Nature Reserve is Sweden's largest area for endangered field weeds. In total, Karum has 54 hay meadows. The land at Karum is fine orchid land and in the area there is a 3 km long hiking trail called Karumleden. Karum on central Öland is a unique agricultural landscape with traces from many different time periods from older Järmålder onwards. On Karum's alvar, one of the few alvar areas in the midland, lies the famous and well-visited ship Noah's Ark. In the reserve, orchid species such as Forest Keys, St. Peter's Keys and St. John's Keys bloom.
Arontorp
In Sweden, the beautiful plant spring adonis only grows on Gotland and Öland. The plant is protected and very poisonous and only grows on calcareous soil, actually it belongs to the southern European steppes. The plant is also called Arontorp rose, a name it of course got after the village of Arontorp. In the reserve, you will find it in a pasture in the western part of the area. The western part of the reserve consists of overgrown deciduous meadows where oak, ash and elm with their deciduous crowns provide a shady roof. The reserve is most beautiful in the spring when carpets of wood anemones and blue anemones spread. The spring flora also includes cowslip, yellow anemones and the purple spring pea. Various warblers, thrushes and chaffinches sing most intensely during the spring until midsummer.
In Strandhagen on southern Öland, you will find it in the almost one hectare area close to the shore limegrass area by Kalmarsund.
stora alvaret
With its 26,000 hectares, Stora Alvaret is one of the world's largest alvar. At Stora Alvaret, plants from all over the world meet. Here you will find mountain plants such as worm lichen and mountain carnation and southern European plants such as mountain crab (as you can see in the picture) and soapwort. There are also endemic species, which occur only on Öland in the whole world, Öland sunflower and alvar wormwood.
Albrunna Lund
With Stora Alvaret to the east and the farmland by the Kalmar Sound to the west, Albrunna Lund is a lung, an oasis in the landscape. A spring visit to Albrunna Lund offers flowers and an intense chorus of birds. On your hike, you will pass several protective defences from the Second World War. The northern part of the reserve is home to a range of unusual fungi and lichens.
An Öland grove is something out of the ordinary. In the spring, the herbs hold court before ash, oak and the other deciduous trees close the canopy of the grove. The ground is covered with anemones in white and yellow, with the hollyhocks and toothroot contributing rose red and violet. Until May, the grove offers formidable birdsong. The sound backdrop is almost deafening when blackcaps, chaffinches, various warblers and thrushes hold concerts.
ÖlandSolvändan
Did you know that the Öland sunflower is Öland's provincial flower. It is smaller than the usual tansy and blooms around midsummer and thrives best on the gravel ointments of the alvar field, where mountain crab also thrives. On rare occasions, you can find the sunshade in sandy dry meadows.