COLLECTIBLE EXPOSITIONS IN THE STRUCTURE OF BOTANICAL GARDENS: A SCIENTIFIC TESTING GROUND AND AESTHETICS OF TERRITORIES

Abstract

The article is devoted to the creation of an exposition-collection of flowering shrubs on the territory of the Main Botanical Garden Russian Academy of Sciences (MBG RAS), which allows for scientific research and at the same time is a highly decorative site of the botanical garden, created according to a previously developed project. This approach made it possible to present the largest collections of two genera Philadelphus L. and Spiraea L. in one place, selecting the most resistant, to adverse environmental factors, decorative and modern species, and varieties. The compositions of this site are based on the use of the external characteristics of plants and their adaptive capabilities in the conditions of the Moscow region, such as color, height, shape, texture, duration, and timing of flowering, flower aroma, and winter hardiness of plants. The project was developed with the participation of three scientific divisions of the MBG RAS. The exposition was created on the site of the MBG RAS, vacated after the completion of the construction of the New Stock Greenhouse, and, in fact, is a land reclamation project. In the project of the collection exposition, the data of long-term observations of this group of plants in the nursery conditions were used. The exposition includes 45 species and varieties of mock orange, and spirea with high winter hardiness and the best decorative characteristics. At present, the introduction testing continues, the selection of new species and varieties with the aim of further replenishing the exposition.