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Henrik and Hepatica hunting

Johan, Jonathan and I arrived to a surreal country side scene about 2 hours north of Gothenburg on a cold and cloudy morning. The vast open landscape was comforting after being in the city for many days. I noticed the soil turn red as the tiles on the houses themselves. We had arrived at Henrik Zutterlund's home in Kinnekulle.


Henrik is a key figure in the world of Alpines and bulbs. He has been on many trips around the world collecting rare and unusual plants and has brought many of them back to Goteburg Botaniks where they are a staple of the collections.

Henrik admiring his Corylus fargesii - rare and maybe the only one in Sweden

We jumped out of the car eager to stretch our legs and immediately stepped on some flowering bulbs. I quickly realized there were thousands of Muscari, Chionodoxa and Narcissus growing among the lawn and drive way. There was no way to not step on them and later we laughed about it.

probably stepped on these at some point

Henrik's home and property oozes history. The house is estimated to be built sometime in the late 1800's or early 1900's with many artifacts and and structures slowly fading into the ground. The mounds of soil that dot the garden are markings of a past industry that moved it there upon digging for oil shale. The area around his property has also been made into a nature preserve where people can walk to view birds and unusual wildflowers.


Chrysosplenium alternifolium growing in the wet marsh areas



the turtle rock 

Paeonia starting to wake up



Much of the garden was just starting to wake up but there were still plenty of interesting plants to look at. His collection of Paeonia, Trillium, Erythronium and unusual woodlanders kept us intrigued at every moment. Many of the species were new to me and each meant something important to him. The way in which most of the garden was planted is simple. All of the bulbous plants including some of the perennials were started from seed by simply broadcasting and waiting. Maintenance means mowing them down after they've finished. If only all gardens could be this easy.

Forgot to write this one down. Don't worry. It's unusual

Henrik's grandson, Julian, helping in the gardens

Primula elatior - Oxlip primrose growing happily in the calcium rich soil

Hundreds of Erythroniums in bud



After warming up with coffee and tea, Henrik asked if we wanted to see the quarry and look for Hepatica nobilis. That was quickly settled and as we started to walk the sun came out and we started to warm up. We made our towards the fields past the old kilns where limestone was burnt for mortar and fertilizer.



The geology of Kinnekulle is as interesting as the plants. As we made our way towards higher ground, the soil turned from a shale and sandstone mix to bed rock of limestone where Hepatica prefers to grow. When we arrived to the old quarry we soon saw thousands of Hepatica nobilis dotting the ground in full flower.


Hepatic nobilis growing on  the edge of the quarry


many colors of Hepatica nobilis 

The once overgrown Juniper forest had been cleared to make room for grazing. This made Henrik very happy as well as many other species of plants that would have most likely not been able to grow. 

Orchis mascula coming into bud

Daphne mezereum

Spending time with Henrik and his family was an amazing end for my last day in Sweden. The entire day was relaxing and full of intellectual conversation and funny stories. I could sense this was his one of his favorite places in the world and it's easy to see why.

Oh, and as we made our way home we stopped to see the cranes. Thousands of them.



I am Scotland now and was just up in Pitlochry and the highlands. So much to cover from that experience and will post again soon.

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