Nizhny Novgorod Botanical Garden

Chubushniki

Going to the Nizhny Novgorod Botanical Garden, we did not expect that the area of ​​the garden would be so significant - 35.2 hectares. Therefore, during the day of the excursion in early June, we managed to see mainly conifers and flowering heather plants. The garden made an indelible impression on me with its maturity and richness of collections. All this exists thanks to the enthusiasm of its few employees. Immediately I want to express my deep gratitude to the leading biologist of the garden, head of the arboretum Irina Valentinovna Mishukova, who cordially devoted us a whole day to acquaint us with the treasures of the flora.

This botanical garden is a scientific institution and is administered by the N.N. N.I. Lobachevsky. It was organized in 1934 and is already over 80 years old.

Its history is associated with the names of prominent Soviet scientists. The botanical garden, then the city of Gorky, owes its appearance to the outstanding Soviet scientist, president of the All-Union Agricultural Academy, academician N.I. Vavilov. Sergei Sergeevich Stankov, the head of the Department of Botany at Gorky University, turned to him for support and received warm approval and help in organizing the garden. It was decided to place the botanical garden on the territory of an oak forest on the plateau of the right bank of the river. Oki on the southeastern outskirts of the city and part of the suburban Ankudinovskaya oak forest. Now, of course, this is far from the outskirts of a dynamically developing city.

The project for laying the garden was developed by the famous Soviet architect E.V. Shervinsky, and now the alleys he marked have survived. The first contribution to the biodiversity of the garden was the seeds and plant samples collected in expeditions by N.I. Vavilov. Planting material also came from various botanical gardens, forestry and experimental stations in the USSR and other countries. The basis of the garden was a systematic plot, an arboretum, areas of industrial, medicinal, fruit and berry and vegetable crops were also laid (now the area of ​​fruit crops is located closer to greenhouses, it has a good collection of winter-hardy apricots). However, the difficult international situation at the end of the 30s did not allow the implementation of plans for the construction of a two-story administrative and laboratory building, a decorative fence with a front entrance and other capital buildings.provided by the project. The difficult periods of the Great Patriotic War that followed and the time that turned out to be even more destructive at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries did not allow to finish building everything that had been postponed until better times.

Ate prickly in the arboretum

Meanwhile, scientific work began in the garden immediately. Within 5 years, a catalog of seeds was published for exchange with other domestic and foreign botanical gardens, a brochure "Wild Edible Plants of the Gorky Region" was soon published, methods for collecting, drying and using medicinal plant materials were developed. During the war years, the use of sphagnum moss was revived, known since the First World War as an effective hygroscopic and bactericidal dressing. During the war years, vegetables and other agricultural crops (oats, clover) were sown on large areas, and all this was processed without special equipment. Throughout the warm season, schoolchildren of grades 5-7 provided assistance to the garden, who received food ration cards for their work and ate free of charge in the canteen organized at the garden.For the needs of the canteen, we had to acquire a small subsidiary farm of several cows and pigs.

Rhododendron marigold and white multifoliate Blue Ice

Spruce gray Conica

In the postwar years, the area of ​​the garden was 75 hectares. Work on the introduction of plants resumed, thanks to which such tree species as prickly spruce, Manchurian walnut, horse chestnut and others appeared on the streets of the city. The dendrological collection played a significant role in the establishment of the Main Botanical Garden in Moscow, which was then created for the 800th anniversary of Moscow and the 225th anniversary of the Academy of Sciences, where student S.S. S.V. Stankova Sidneva.

Work was continuously carried out on a systematic plot of the garden, which included perennial and wild plants from different geographic zones of the country. The site was transferred to fresh soil every 10 years; by the beginning of the 80s, it included about 500 plant species. Representatives of the genera penstemon, anemone, cornflower were tested and introduced into gardening. Much attention was paid to rare and endangered plants, especially the native Gorky region, ornamental plants of indoor (azaleas, callas, cineraria, chrysanthemums, cyclamens) and open ground (phlox, dahlias, peonies, gladioli, irises).

Irises

Forked anemone

The new director, S.I. Zavylenkov, took office in 1957 and took up the restructuring of greenhouses. Their area was expanded, heating was supplied from the boiler room. A collection of tropical and subtropical crops has grown, 220 of them have been recommended for landscaping public and industrial premises. In the post-war years, much attention was paid to fruit and berry crops, strawberry and raspberry varieties bred in the garden, were tested in 17 regions of the country.

Today, unique collections of open ground contain 1520 species and forms of woody plants from 60 families, 390 of them are recommended for landscaping. There are species in the collections that are practically not found in other botanical gardens (for example, hybrid catalpa with semi-double flowers, blooming virgin persimmon, western carcass, Japanese hop hornbeam, oriental beech, hornbeam, leucotoe Katsby, redberry, narrow-leaved squid and many others). Information about the state of the collection is annually sent to 70 botanical gardens in Russia, near and far abroad. The exchange of seeds is growing every year, the collection is actively replenished. To collect coniferous cones, you have to order a special machine, since many trees have reached large sizes.

Leucotoe Catsby

Immediately after entering the garden, the visitor is greeted by a landscape exposition of conifers and perennials. There is also a pond surrounded by rhododendrons and water-loving vegetation.

On the hill, the unusual decorative form of prickly spruce with slightly drooping branch tips attracts attention. It was identified by the employees of the garden and given the name "Faina" in honor of her colleague Faina Viktorovna Nasonova, who worked in the garden in the post-war years and laid the arboretum together with S.V. Sydnevoy.

Faina prickly spruce

Nearby is a lianarium, where actinidia kolomikta, canadian moonseed, and large-leaved kirkazon climb along the supports. For the first time I saw a short-stemmed vine, which at first glance cannot be distinguished from grapes.

Lianarium

Canadian moonseed

Vineyard short-stemmed

On the dendrological site, trees 50-60 years old are striking in their beauty. An alley of larch trees (there is a rare Polish larch), dense crowns of prickly spruce and its forms Glauka, old mountain pine trunks spread over the ground are impressive. The venerable age of trees can be judged by the growth rings on the cut of a spruce that died from a bark beetle.

Larch Alley

Pine Weymutova, 60 years old

Polish larch

Mountain pine, about 60 years old

Saw cut ate 60 years old

A significant collection of decorative forms of western thuja, there is also folded thuja, which, although it does not feel very well, has reached a height of about 2 m.

Thuja western Columna

Thuja folded, or giant

One of the attractions of the garden is the cobus magnolia, which has recently begun to bloom. There are a number of small heat-loving catalpas - 3 species and 2 hybrids (see Catalpa).

Catalps

Magnolia cobus

Seedlings of three-petalled magnolia

For the first time here I managed to see a very decorative flowering of German medlar (see German medlar), on which last year's fruits are still preserved, They, by the way, are edible after freezing, but are inferior in size and taste to varietal medlar. Another rarity is virgin persimmon. At home, in North America, it reaches 20-40 m in height, in central Russia it grows slowly, no higher than 3 m, blooms, but does not bear fruit.

Medlar

Persimmon virginiana

The sixty-year-old Maaka bird cherry has a multi-stem shape, and its growth has already become an adult nearby.

Bird cherry Maak

Shoot of Maak bird cherry

However, I can't wait to move on to the garden's most impressive display, the heather collection. We just caught the flowering of these plants. The rare mencisia pentamellar, lionia privet-like, narrow-leaved squid, red grass, planted in a protected place, marsh and ferruginous ledum (Ledum glandulosa) look very beautiful and healthy. Among the seedlings of scutellus blueberry, there are very successful specimens, literally clung to the set fruits. Brokentalia is spread out on the sunny slide, according to modern classification - Erica holly - a wonderful pillow with white buds that bloom pink flowers.

Mencisia five-grained

Lionia privet

Narrow-leaved Kalmia

Ledum ferruginous

Krasnik

Erica, or brukentalia holly

The collection of rhododendrons is very rich, there are 60 species (of which 6 are in the greenhouse) and 27 varieties. The first specimens of rhododendrons were planted when the garden was created in 1934, the main part - from 1979. Most of them are grown from seed, with 107 species tested. In addition to the species found in various botanical gardens, such as the yellow and Japanese rhododendron, here you can see rare Albrecht's rhododendrons, thick-haired, rusty, Kamchatka and some others (see page Rhododendron). There are also more common rhododendrons yellow, Schlippenbach, Smirnov, sticky, marigold, pink, Japanese, etc.

Kamchatka rhododendron

Rhododendron marigold

Rhododendron Japanese Alba

Rhododendron Pontus, 2nd generation seedling

Rhododendron pontic, seedling Delight

The results of our own selection are also impressive - there are 46 hybrid seedlings in the collection and 50 from free pollination. Among them there are, without exaggeration, outstanding ones, distinguished by rich flowering, and most importantly, by high winter hardiness.

Japanese rhododendron

Hybrid Rh. viscosum x Rh. japonicum

Hybrid Rh. viscosum x Rh. japonicum

hybrid Rh. catawbiense x Rh. macrophyllum

Rhododendron Smirnov

The current director Alexander Shirokov did a lot for the botanical garden. He collected a large collection of garden orchids and built a modern greenhouse.

The Nizhny Novgorod Botanical Garden has made a significant contribution to science and played a significant role in how Nizhny Novgorod looks today (the botanical garden is also a beautiful landscape city park, where many excursions are held for students, schoolchildren and everyone). They love to attend wedding processions, but they do not always pay for photography against the background of unique vegetation. I would like to turn from the pages of our portal to all future Nizhny Novgorod newlyweds: remember that by giving a small, affordable fee for spectacular photos against the backdrop of plant landscapes, you are making your little contribution to maintaining the most valuable collections of the garden, and at the same time - the green lungs of the city. Treat the work of generations of botanists with respect and do not skimp! You will help preserve this wealth for your children and grandchildren.

Literature:

Botanical Garden of Nizhny Novgorod State University N.I. Lobachevsky (1934-2009) - Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod University Publishing House, 2009

Photo: Rita Brilliantova