Fragrant primroses, a riot of green grass, and blossoming apricot and cherry trees are all signs that spring has come. The coming of the new season is especially enjoyable at the National Mykhailo Hryshko Botanical Gardens, where the mingled scents of tulips, narcissi, field violets, corydalis, and hyacinths are almost overpowering. They will soon be joined by magnolias, rhododendrons, and lilacs.
In the next few years the botanical gardens will undergo a large-scale makeover to the tune of 20 million hryvnias, to get it ready in time for its 75th anniversary in 2010. There are plans to restore the main entrance and the guest room, and to repair a fountain near the winter garden. The Roman fountains next to the entrance will also get a facelift, and there will be a beverage-tasting room, where the staff will offer visitors an array of juices and herbal teas made from local plants. After the renovations there will be a museum devoted to the history of the botanical gardens and some new “international corners.”
WOULD YOU LIKE SOME TEA?
Since there are about 12,000 species of plants in the 130-hectare garden, which are tended by more than 300 experts, there will be no problems making herbal teas and juices. One of the herbal teas that will be offered is made from the tea tree, or camellia sinensis. According to the biologist Dr. Ihor Kharchenko, its leaves can be used for brewing both green and black teas, depending on the method used to dry them.
It is still not known if the fruits of tropical plants will be used for the tea tastings, but in any case they are moving to their new premises. Tangerines, oranges, bananas, lemons, avocados, and other exotic plants are just some of the more than 3,000 species growing in the gardens. Not all of them are in bloom now, but you can feast your eyes on the azaleas that grow in the winter garden room. (Azaleas bloom nearly all year long.) According to Dr. Kharchenko, you can grow them at home if you have the necessary conditions — high humidity and acidic soil.
The botanical gardens feature plants from various continents, including Asia, Africa, and the Americas. These will be expanded by the addition of new sections devoted to Japan and France. The first step has already been made: 30 sakura trees, also known as the Japanese flowering cherry, have been planted. The gardens’ experienced French colleagues will help reconstruct the rose garden.
The new “international corners” will be based on the botanical and geographical principle (the botanical and geographical areas account for 50 percent of the garden’s area). According to Dr. Volodymyr Kvasha, the garden’s senior research associate and biologist, this principle allows the staff to reproduce plants from a certain region in the natural conditions of Kyiv. Applying this principle, the garden has recreated the flora of the Ukrainian Carpathians, the Crimean Mountains, and the Ukrainian steppes. The Ukrainian Carpathians section reproduces the region’s vegetation and the peculiarities of its terrain: here you will even find a mini-Hoverlia, the highest peak of the Carpathians.
IN THE COUNTRY OF MAGNOLIAS
When visitors enter the “Golden Valley,” they see fragrant, golden-yellow forsythias that were brought from Southeast Asia. Scientists say they are related to the lilac because the forsythia produces similar flowers, which are several times larger. Magnolias will soon burst into full flower. The magnolia collection was recently topped up with a few dozen “floral sisters,” that are already producing their first buds (magnolias blossom in mid-April or early May).
“The first to blossom are the November magnolias, which are from North America before their leaves start growing,” Dr. Kvasha explained. “According to a legend, magnolias are the hearts of girls who were tortured to death, so it is an unpardonable sin and a bad omen to pick the flowers. Cut magnolias fade quickly, and it is not good to keep them in a room because they can give you a headache. So it is better to sniff them from a distance.”
Some researchers call magnolias the eyes of nature because they are among the oldest plants on the planet (most present-day floral species emerged in the post- glacial period). The flowers are named after the French botanist Pierre Magnol, who was the first to describe this plant. Scientists also link the magnolia to the so- called tulip tree. It has a practical application: its wood is used for making parquet.
Tree-like peonies will be the next to blossom. These flowers are considered a symbol in certain regions of China. Yunnan, one of the largest, has been growing this plant for about a thousand years. Dr. Kvasha says that this region holds a national festival of peonies when they bloom.
“We are also in the process of creating a so-called dynamic garden, where plants that symbolize a particular season of the year will be featured,” the gardens’ chief biologist said. “For example, winter will be represented by conifers, spring by a collection of rhododendrons, summer by flowery and decorative plants, and fall by maples, which look the best during this season. Naturally, it will take between five and seven years to set up this garden, but it will be worth the time and funds.
A STROLL INTO THE 11TH CENTURY
The botanical gardens are not without problems. The resident scientists complain about construction of housing in the so-called buffer zones, which are necessary for the plants to adapt to our climate. Luckily, the National Botanical Gardens have caring patrons, some of whom recently presented the garden with a wollemia, a rare Japanese plant that was discovered in the 1890s. This flower is a veritable find for botanists. Another relict plant that has gotten used to Ukrainian conditions is the Chinese sequoia. Scientists considered it an extinct species until 1945, when a forester came across one in the Sichuan region.
The staff of the gardens is overjoyed by the news that an analogue to the Beautiful Court of Kyivan Rus’ may soon appear next to the peony valley. “Archeologists working in the gardens recently discovered the site of a princely court, which is identified as Krasnyi (Beautiful) in the chronicles,” Kvasha said. “Its first owner was Vsevolod Yaroslavych, the father of Volodymyr Monomakh. Our patrons suggested that we build something like the original Beautiful Court. If nothing gets in our way, the botanical gardens will soon have a commemorative sign, and the court plaza will have plants that once grew in the times of Vsevolod Yaroslavych, during the second half of the 11th century. We presume that oak trees, pines, cherry trees, and walnut trees were growing in Ukraine at this time, because most of our contemporary plants were brought here much later.”
