“FUTURE IN FLOWERS” FESTIVAL
The festival began on 21 May and ended on 8 July, on the last day of the RUSSIA EXPO. This large-scale flower marathon captured the whole VDNKh area, and unique art objects made of flowers were introduced in several locations simultaneously. Guests could witness more than 100 million flowers, flower exhibits from all 89 regions of the country, and designer flower compositions from institutions and state corporations. Future in Flowers workshop held floristry classes, lectures from well-known plant breeders, and fun trivia games. Visitors were shown the best achievements of national plant breeders: about 400 types of peonies, 140 types of lilacs, 120 types of irises, 250 types of roses, 30 types of dahlias, as well as other flowers and plants of Russia.
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Lungwort. Mordovia
Blooming lungwort is a wonderful ornament of our spring forests. It has been growing in the forests of Russia since ancient times, and it also grows in the Republic of Mordovia. An ancient Slavic legend says: if you drink nectar from twenty pink and twenty violet flowers of lungwort, your heart will become healthy and kind, and your thoughts will become pure.
This valuable medicinal and ornamental plant is affectionately called medunchik, apiary grass, honey grass, medunka, because the spring flowers of this plant are rich in nectar, which attracts a lot of bees.
The scientific name of the genus (Pulmonaria) comes from the Latin word pulmo — "lung". This is because in the past lungwort was widely used in the treatment of lung diseases. Lungwort is also one of the Russian names for this plant.
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Juniper. Republic of Altai
Juniper (Latin: Juniperus) is a genus of evergreen coniferous shrubs of the cypress family (Cupressaceae), growing on rocky slopes, cliffs, and sparse forests. In the Altai Mountains, juniper is represented by three species: false Cossack juniper — at archyn, Cossack juniper — koy archyn, and Siberian juniper — kyrchyn. For the Altai people, juniper is the most sacred, revered, and ethnically significant plant. It has many names: artysh, archyn, archa.
The Telengits (inhabitants of Southern Altai) say that when the Holy Mother descended to the earth, she sat where the juniper (called artysh by the locals) grew. Soon after, she gave birth to her son — God. Because the Holy Mother sat on it, it has a sprawling form. According to the Altai people, juniper possesses cleansing and healing properties. A lit branch of the plant is used to fumigate a sick person, purify a dwelling, cradle, or hearth. People turn to folk healers with a juniper branch, and it is used during matchmaking.
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Sphagnum moss. Karelia
Karelia is one of the marshiest regions of Russia, with swamps covering almost a quarter of the republic's territory. This is a complex and rich ecosystem that is protected by the state.
Moss is found everywhere in Karelia. Sphagnum, or Sphagnum moss (from the Greek "sphagnos," meaning sponge), is a common inhabitant of swamps. In Russia, more than forty species of sphagnum grow.
Sphagnum moss has unique moisture-absorbing properties, capable of absorbing water up to 20 times its mass.
Bog moss has no roots; its cells grow upwards while the lower layers gradually die off. However, they do not rot. Decay is prevented by the phenol contained in sphagnum—an antiseptic that kills bacteria. From the dying parts of sphagnum, raised bog peat is formed. This is how, due to sphagnum and other aquatic plants, lakes become overgrown and swamps appear.
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Blue spruce. Kabardino-Balkaria
The blue spruce, also known as prickly spruce (Latin: Picea pungens), is an evergreen coniferous tree. The unusual coloring of needles is given by a thick layer of wax covering each needle, which protects the spruce from environmental influences. The natural habitat of the species is the west of North America, from where it was brought to Europe and then to Russia.
Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, is famous for its alleys of silver-blue spruces. It was here that the Soviet breeder Ivan Porfirievich Kovtunenko grew blue spruces, which today adorn various corners of our homeland. In 1918, Ivan Porfirievich started working in a nursery in Nalchik and for the first time encountered blue spruces, which at that time were a rarity for our country. Then seedlings of spruce trees were purchased for further cultivation to serve as decoration of parks and resorts of southern Russian cities.
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Venus slipper. Kostroma region
Venus slipper (lady's-slipper orchid) of the orchid family is a perennial herbaceous plant.
It is found in semi-shade under the forest canopy, less often in open spaces. It stops blooming in heavy shade. It grows in sparse pine, spruce, broad-leaved, small-leaved and mixed forests, as well as in glades and forest edges, bushes, forest and mountain meadows, forested green-moss and sphagnum bogs.
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Pine. Chelyabinsk region
European red pine (Pinus sylvestris) – a tree from the pine family – is a widely distributed species in Eurasia and one of the most valuable coniferous species in our country. Pine forms pure stands but can also grow alongside other coniferous or deciduous species.
Mature pines reach a height of 25–40 meters, and the trunk can exceed one meter in diameter, classifying pine as a tree of the first magnitude.
Chelyabinsk is likely the only metropolis in Russia that has a full-fledged pine forest in its center. Writer and local historian Vyacheslav Lyutov calls the pine forest the Chelyabinsk urban archetype, implying that it is the main treasure of Chelyabinsk.
Along with the RUSSIA EXPO, the flower festival is also coming to an end.
The "Future in Flowers" festival continues at the RUSSIA EXPO, where unique flowerbeds from all regions of our country can be seen at the "Space" pavilion until July 8.
The RUSSIA EXPO concludes on July 8, and with it, the flower festival will also come to an end.
