As a lover of plants in general, and with a particularly keen interest in alpines, I relish the opportunity to visit alpine regions. I have been fortunate to visit the Rockies, the Swiss Alps, the Greater and Lesser Caucasus, and even the Southern Alps of New Zealand. However, Patagonia has long been on my bucket list. It was probably Marcela Ferreyra’s talk at the NARGS AGM in Steamboat, Colorado, that clinched it. Such spectacular plants! The bizarre cauliflower-looking Gamocarpha macrocephala, the spiny hummocks of Anarthrophyllum strigulipetalum, the over-the-top gorgeous Callianthemoides semiverticillata and of course, the otherworldly rosulate violets. I had to see them for myself. So I jumped at the chance to join the NARGS tour to central Patagonia, led by none other than the resident expert, Marcela Ferreyra, this past Nov. 26 through Dec. 7, 2023. I was not alone, twenty other NARGS members joined me on this epic adventure.
