This plant has even made it onto the five-franc coin. It is a symbol of Switzerland and is characteristic of the mountains that characterize the country. The edelweiss has an unmistakable, symbolic value and, on top of that, is beautiful to look at. Small detail: There is not only one Edelweiss. In our latitudes we commonly know the alpine edelweiss. The original comes from the Himalayas. The whole variety of this impressive flower can be found in the botanical garden of the Hotel Schatzalp in Davos.
"We probably have the largest collection of edelweiss in the world," says Fabian Reppel, master gardener at Schatzalp. With this collection, they want to show that there is not just one edelweiss, but a wealth of varieties. The Schatzalp's Alpinum, as a garden in the alpine region is called, makes it possible for the most diverse varieties of edelweiss to meet again after centuries and millennia of migration. Entirely to the delight of the visitors, who are allowed to get to know this unique diversity on guided tours.
But it is not only the legendary edelweiss that blooms in the often seemingly barren alpine landscape. According to Reppel, it is precisely in the zone around the tree line that a particularly unique, comprehensive flora can be found. This also explains the 5,000 different plant species and varieties from all over the world that bloom and flourish in the Alpinum Schatzalp.
