Before touring the Vytautas Magnus University Botanical Garden in Kaunas, Lithuania, I had the opportunity to travel through the Lithuanian countryside. It was pure joy for this horticulturist.
Kaunas, Lithuania’s second largest city, is located near the center of the country and is a natural stop on our way from the capital, Vilnius in the east near the border with Belarus, to Klaipeda, the port city on the Baltic Sea on the west coast.
Lithuania is mostly forest-covered flat lands of deep, rich soil, ponds, and streams. Small villages and farms are scattered throughout the country where fields of bright yellow canola blossoms contrast with the deep green forests and the pale blue skies. The roads are great, and cruising is a joy. As we travelled along the highway, we crossed plant hardiness zones 5, 6, and 7. Forests of spruce gave way to birch and pine forests which then gave way to linden and maple. There are peat bogs in Lithuania, too, but more on that later.
Horticulture is part of daily living in Lithuania. Traversing through rural Lithuania shows no home is without fruit trees, a garden, and a greenhouse. Hoop houses abound in this country of long summer days (20 hours) of relative coolness (75 degrees F). The sun hangs low in the summer sky in Lithuania, circling just above the horizon for most of the 20 hours of daylight, then dipping below the horizon creating short summer nights.
In the cities, the vast native forest seems to have fostered a general appreciation for nature, with flower gardens, flowering trees, and shrubs at every turn. Flower boxes appear under many windows, along walkways, and on balconies, brimming with blooms including trailing vines, annuals, and grasses.
First organized as the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 13th Century, Lithuania has a rich cultural and architectural history. Architectural character is commonly seen ranging from original medieval churches through the modern buildings of the 21st century.
Known as the academic center of the country, Kaunas is home to Vytautas Magnus University and its 154-acre botanical garden.
The VMU Botanical Garden is an asset for studying plant sciences, including medicinal and spice plants, dendrology and phytopathology, and pomology. The garden coordinates expositions and collections including plant systematics, floriculture and greenhouse collections while embracing interactive education, cultural tourism, and community use.
Commonly known as the Kaunas Botanical Garden, the site is greatly enjoyed by the community, with over 90,000 visitors each year.
This year, the garden is celebrating its 100-year anniversary. Founded in 1923 just 5 years after Lithuanian Independence from the Russian Empire, the garden endured upheavals including Nazi occupation from 1941 through 1945, and Soviet times from 1945 through 1990. On March 11, 1990, Lithuania became the first of the Baltic States to gain independence.
The Director of VMU Botanical Garden, Dr. Nerijus Jurkonis, invited us to meet at his office. After introductions, we spoke through an interpreter about the garden’s research and education mission. For decades, horticulturists at the garden have researched and developed many varieties of landscape plants and fruit plants which were successfully introduced into the horticulture industry.
We spoke about the garden’s primary purpose, education and research.
Curricula for the University’s plant science and horticulture programs include research and classes at the garden.
The University and its researchers collaborate with partner organizations in countries within the European Union such as Poland and Latvia. Climates and interests in fruit research in Lithuania match those in the areas of North America from Michigan through Nova Scotia. Some collaboration has been attained, but it was explained that there are a considerable number of barriers for an eastern European country to collaborate with the United States. It is much easier for collaborations to occur within the European Union. Even so, the Missouri Botanical Garden was mentioned as a collaborator on projects at VMU and throughout the region.
Before we left his office, Dr. Jurkonis gifted me with a book about the garden, written in Lithuanian, complete with detailed photos of the Botanical Garden’s horticultural releases.
Next was a private tour of the fruit research farm, which is not open to the public. I met the lead researcher Remigijus Daubaras. He happily showed us around the research plots as he excitedly spoke of developments made in fruit production at VMU. Of particular interest were advances in selections and production methods of cranberries, blueberries, kiwi, figs, elderberry, and Viburnum opulus, the European Cranberrybush Viburnum, which has potential as a fruit-producing plant. Production methods focus on organic and natural means.
Center: Nerijus Jurkonis, Director
Right: Robert Balek, Horticulturist
Background: Viburnum opulus, European Cranberrybush Viburnum
Depictions of the plants developed at VMU Botanical Garden and released into the horticulture trade are on display in the garden:
It was arranged for us to have a guided tour of the taxonomic collections by Edita, Lead Gardener. “People need to know how their food grows”, she said.
We first toured a classroom. On the sides of the room were models and posters of plants, stacks of infographics, and a few potted plants. In the center were tables with cuttings from various plants in small piles in front of each chair. A group of students arrived for the plant identification class just as we were leaving.
The plant collections are extensive, and there is much to know. Our time was limited, so we had to move past some collections to get to others.
We bypassed the collection of Oak trees, clones taken from cuttings of the oldest oaks in Lithuania. The purpose of the collection is to preserve the genotypes of these specimens, most of which are many centuries old. I was reminded the oldest oak in Lithuania, the Stelmuze Oak, is also one of the oldest trees in Europe. It stands 23 meters (75.5 feet) in height and has a diameter of 3.5 meters (11.5 feet), and is estimated to be around 1500 years old. It is among many centuries-old oaks from Lithuania with a genetic clone at VMU Botanical Garden.
Our main objective was to visit the Rhododendron collection, which was in full bloom.
Stopping along the way Edita educated us on specific taxonomic collections. We were shown the most prized specimens of Japanese Katsura Tree, which has a distinctly pleasant smell in autumn as leaves fall. /
We also saw the Gingko tree, a proud specimen offering an interesting botanical history useful for educating about tree taxonomy and dendrology.
Constructed in 1938, we toured the conservatory to see tropical food plants like Cacao, Vanilla, Banana, Kiwi, Lemon, and Papaya. It is important for students to know tropical food plants, Edita explained. Then on to the more ornamental succulents, cactus, and other topicals like the ones we had seen in planters, flower shops and window boxes in the city.
Display gardens and variety trials abound at VMU Botanical Garden. In this month of May, new raised beds are being constructed for additional collections of perennials and annuals. Immediately noticeable was the use of peat blocks as the construction material for the bed walls. Peat bogs are found in eastern Lithuania where the blocks are formed and brought to the gardens for use in raised beds.
The main feature of the garden in late May is the Rhododendron collection. Edita explained that at the VMU Botanical Garden, Rhododendrons and Azaleas are placed together in one collection. There are hundreds of varieties in bloom, each labelled with genus, species, and cultivar name. All colors, sizes, and shapes give a sweet fragrance to the air in the entire garden. Pollinators abound, as do visitors to experience this amazing collection.
As we made our way through the collections, Edita mentioned that a TV journalist was coming to interview her about the Rhododendron collection. I quipped that I do similar TV spots in the US. Next thing I know, she is talking with the journalist and asking if I would like to be interviewed as well. Of course!
Kaunas Botanical Garden Interview
The VMU Botanical Garden is rich in horticultural education and research opportunities. It was explained that the extensive collections of landscape plants are the major factor in marketing the gardens’ public reputation, and therefore helping secure funding for continued research.
The Kaunas Botanical Garden at Vytautas Magnus University is just one of a worldwide network of botanical gardens bringing horticultural research and education to people who desire to interact with plants.
Details of collections at Kaunas Botanical Garden at Vytautas Magnus University can be found at: https://issuu.com/vdukaunobotanikossodas/docs/index-seminum-kbg