TARTU UNIVERSITY
Botanical Garden
MAIN ACTIVITIES
- The identification, collection, preservation, phenotypic characterisation, assessment of disease resistance and documentation of the results is being carried out under the Programme for the conservation of genetic resources in Estonia.
- Preservation of the collection of medicinal and aromatic plants ex situ, study of the chemical composition (active ingredient) and medicinal properties of selected plant species in cooperation with the UT Institute of Pharmacy.
- Collecting and conserving wild relatives of cultivated plants.
- Maintaining and updating electronic and internet-based databases of new and old landraces and medicinal and aromatic plants under research.
- Continuous cooperation and exchange of information with breeders and collectors, observation of seedlings of different crops, evaluation and characterisation of promising varieties, organisation of expeditions to inventory private gardens and to search for stock nurseries.
- Vegetative reproduction of varieties of ornamental plants, preservation of safety duplicates in collections, exchange of plant material.
- Demonstration and promotion of local varieties: organising awareness-raising events, preparing information materials and publications, managing the website, making the preserved plant varieties and local breeds available for teaching and non-profit purposes to other users.
- Participation in international cooperation: conservation, research and characterisation of aromatic and medicinal plants in the framework of the European Cooperation Programme on Plant Genetic Resources (ECPGR); management and maintenance of the GeNBIS database management system of the Nordic and Baltic gene banks.
The beginning of ornamental plants breeding in Estonia
Ornamental plant breeding in Estonia was started in 1946 by Adolf Vaigla, a teacher at the Räpina Garden School and a chickweed breeder. In 1947, plant breeding was also started at the Polli branch of the Plant Breeding Institute of the Estonian SSR. Up to that time, there had been no significant breeding of ornamental plants in Estonia.
In the second half of the 20th century, local varieties of ornamental plants were mainly bred in Tallinn Botanical Garden. The main methods of breeding new varieties were hybridisation and selection, and attention was also paid to the agrotechnics of hybrid seedlings.
In examining the archives of the botanical gardens and libraries, we have found a written references that, alongside with plant breeding in scientific institutions, the breeding of ornamental plants was also carried on by private gardens.
We have contacted a wide range of breeders and collectors to obtain valuable information. From the information we have obtained from private gardeners and from their collections, we have concluded that private gardening took off in the second half of the 20th century.
The main crops used in the breeding work have been Anemone L., Begonia ×tuberhybrida Voss, Clematis L., Dahlia Cav., Dianthus L., Galanthus L., Gladiolus L., Hemerocallis L., Hippeastrum Herb., Iris L., Lilium L., Narcissus L., Paeonia L., Phlox L., Potentilla L., Primula L., Rosa L., Sempervivum L., Syringa L., Tulipa L., many other bulbs, grasses, deciduous and conifers. From the written sources it can be concluded that a considerable number of varieties have long since disappeared, but information on their breeding is published and documented in various publications.
Ornamental plant breeding results
As a result of inventories of private collections and research in the archives of libraries, more than 1500 varieties and cultivars of ornamental plants bred in Estonia have been found, of which more than 700 varieties have a definite place of cultivation today. Based on the data collected, the present-day location of many varieties has been fixed and these varieties have been included in the Database of Genetic Resources of Ornamental Plants. A consolidated list has also been compiled, which provides a fairly concise picture of the history of ornamental plant breeding in Estonia, while certainly being an important document for searching for varieties not yet found.
Ornamental plant breeding continues in private gardens today. Seedlings of the different crops produced in the course of breeding are under constant observation. The main crops used in breeding today are Clematis L., Galanthus L., Hemerocallis L., Lilium L., Paeonia L., Phlox L., Potentilla L., Primula L. and Rosa L.. There is a continuous cooperation and exchange of information between the UT Botanical Garden and the plant breeders.
Registered varieties
Quite a lot of varieties have entered both Estonian and world variety registers.
There are 135 varieties of live yarn and 15 varieties of rose registered with the Estonian Agricultural Board(https://portaal.agri.ee/avalik/#/sort). In The International Clematis Register and Checklist(https://www.clematisinternational.com/registrar.html#registrar) there are 156 clematis cultivars belonging to the breeders Uno Kivistik, Eino Kala and Erich Pranno. Five of Adolf Vaigla's cultivars of clematis can be found in the International Register of Clematis Varieties maintained at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Hamilton, Canada(https://www.internationallilacsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/ILS-register-updated-March-12-2023-final.pdf). Eight Vera Jessinovskaya lily species are represented in the International Lily Register(https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/plant-register-supplements/lilies/lily-register-and-checklist.pdf). Edna Kõiv's gladiolus cultivar 'Little Robi' ('Edna Kõiv', 'Edna') is listed in the North American Gladiolus Council Register(http://www.gladworld.org/registry.htm). Alli Süvalepa's gladiolus cultivar 'Bluebird', bred in Tallinn Botanical Garden, is registered in Moscow Botanical Garden. Eight varieties of primula and three varieties of rose have been certified.Nine varieties of boyseng have been registered between 2023 and 2024 by boyseng breeders Sulev Savisaar and Marika Vartla(https://americanpeonysociety.org/cultivars/peony-registry/).
Conservation of ornamental plant varieties at the University of Tartu Botanical Garden and elsewhere in Estonia
During the period of the national programme, more than 500 varieties of ornamental plants have been acquired and planted in the plant collections of the University of Tartu Botanical Garden, the largest of which are the collections of iris (77), gentian (68), rose (56), lifelong (46), daylily (31), fleur-de-lis (29), lily (28), conifers (27) and chervil (24). At least two replicates of more than 170 varieties are held in the collections of the UT Botanical Garden.
The collections of the Tallinn Botanical Garden include over 100 local varieties, the largest of which are rose (34), chickweed (30), lime (20), elder (10), woody (15) and lily (5). There are now over 700 varieties in private collections, and the most common and well-known varieties can be found in several gardens. The collections of lime, iris, lily, mountain onion, day lily, elderflower, boysenberry, primrose, rose, flox, chiffonade, primrose and bulb flowers are larger in private gardens.
UT Botanical Garden's collection of medicinal and aromatic plants
In the herbal garden you can get acquainted with many plants common in Estonian folk medicine and their medicinal properties, as well as local herbs. Around 400 species and varieties of medicinal plants grow in the 130 square metres of the garden. In the open-air gardens you can see both familiar and less familiar wild species, as well as cultivated plants. Plants are arranged by genus. In this garden you will find 64 genera. Within the framework of the national programme, research into the chemical composition (active ingredient) and medicinal properties of selected medicinal plants is being carried out at the Institute of Pharmacy, University of Tartu.
UT Botanical Garden's natural plant collection
The cultivation of Estonian natural plant species at the Botanical Garden began in the early 19th century on the initiative of the director Gottfried Albert Germann, who also considered it important to introduce the local flora. The collection was renewed between 2015 and 2018 and was ready for the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia. The department's 1,200 square metres of plants are planted in free-form bordered borders according to natural habitats that mimic our seashore, marsh, marshland and various types of forest and meadow. The Estonian Wildlife Department also has over 100 species of Estonian protected plants. Native species of Estonia are considered to be species that arrived in our area before the mid-18th century, of which there are estimated to be 1,400 and of which about half (700) are represented in the University Botanic Garden, including 110 species of protected plants (marked LK). Under a national programme, 78 wild relatives of cultivated plants are conserved in the collection.
Genetic resource databases
The University of Tartu Botanical Garden's "Search for a plant" database(Index Plantarum) records the varieties of ornamental, aromatic and medicinal plants and wild relatives of cultivated plants growing in the Botanical Garden's collections - https://botaed.ut.ee/andmebaas/.
Varieties of ornamental plants bred in Estonia can also be found on the website of the GeNBIS data management system of the Nordic and Baltic gene banks - https://nordic-baltic-genebanks.org/gringlobal/search.
If you want to know more about local varieties of ornamental plants, you can find more information about local breeders and their varieties on the websites below.
https://www.rosmakor.eu/raamat.php
https://sibullilled.ee/kataloog/et/
https://aed.aianduskool.ee/tutvustus/kollektsioonid/sirelid/
CONTACT
Tartu University Botanical Garden
Wide 38
51005 Tartu
Phone: +372 737 6180
Email: juri.sild@ut.ee
University of Tartu Botanical Garden
https://ut.ee/et/tartu-ulikooli-botaanikaaed
University of Tartu Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden
https://natmuseum.ut.ee/et
Botanic garden plant collections
Jüri Sild
Head of the Botanical Garden, MSc
Tel: +372 5557 5462
Email: juri.sild@ut.ee
Olesja Escuer
Botanic Gardener, PhD (agriculture)
Email: olesja.escuer@ut.ee
Send us a message
Media:
The Estonian Department of Natural Plants has been opened.
In 2015-2018, the Estonian Department of Natural Plants underwent a thorough renovation course, which was completed for the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia.
On the 1200 square meters of the department, the plants are planted on freeform bordered finesse according to naturally different places of growth, thanks to which each visitor can get acquainted with different types of forest and meadows and other interesting special places of growth.
Nearly half, or 700 species, including 110 species of protected plants, are represented from indigenous species of local flora. The department maintains the majority of the wild relatives of cultivated plants on the prioritized list under the national programme "Collection, conservation and use of crop genetic resources 2021-2027".
Thepriority given to the conservation of wild related species of wild sturgeon plants depends on the endemic nature, status, distribution, level of risk, as well as on the use in the production and plant breeding of cultivated plant species belonging to the same genus and on their importance as food and feed plants.
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