“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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Kurai or Ural rippensame. Republic of Bashkortostan
Kurai is a fairly common plant in the coniferous and deciduous forests of the Urals, belonging to the umbellifer family, with a hollow stem. The kurai flower is considered a symbol of Bashkiria and can be seen on the flag and coat of arms.
Why is the kurai flower a symbol of Bashkortostan?
According to legends, the united Bashkir people emerged from seven main clans. The kurai flower is a symbol of friendship, and its seven petals represent the seven different ethnic groups that formed the Bashkir people as an ethnic group.
The union of the clans consisted of the largest tribes: Burzyans (бөрйән), Usergans (үсергән), Tangauers (түңгәүер), Kypsaks (ҡыпсаҡ), Katays (ҡатай), Mins (мең), and Tabyns (табын). Although, in reality, there were many more (about 45).
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Apple tree. Tambov region
During the nationwide voting for the selection of plants as green symbols of the country, as part of the environmental campaign "Alley of Russia," over 8,000 people voted for the symbolic tree of the Tambov region. The apple tree received the most votes.
This is not surprising. The history of the Tambov region's symbol is closely linked with the activities of the great scientist, breeder, and biologist Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin.
The first images of Michurin's apples can be found in the pages with sketches of fruits from the scientist's diary. In 1921, Michurin's apples and pears were exhibited in Tambov, and soon they became known in Moscow. Nikolai Gorbunov, the secretary of the Sovnarkom, heard about the self-taught Michurin from someone and told Lenin about him. Throughout his life, Ivan Vladimirovich bred more than 300 varieties of apples, pears, plums, cherries, blackberries, currants, roses, and other plants, and published about 150 scientific works.
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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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Schisandra. Amur region
Chinese magnolia vine or five-flavor berry (lat. Schisándra chinénsis) is a species of flowering plants of the genus Schisandra in the family Schisandraceae.
It is a unique plant of the Far East, a woody deciduous creeping liana 10-15 m long and up to 1.5-2 cm in diameter, in northern areas — up to 2-4 m long, spirally winding supports clockwise.
Europeans learned about Chinese magnolia vine in the early XIX century, about the same time Russian scientists became interested in it. In 1895, botanist and connoisseur of Far Eastern plants Vladimir Komarov published the stories of hunters that, going to the taiga for a long time, they do not take large stocks of food, and instead restore their strength with dried Schisandra berries. Thanks to this, they can chase sables for days without food and rest, keeping vigor of mind and sharpness of eye. Fishermen, leaving for a voyage, stocked up on the juice of the fruit of this liana, as it relieves seasickness.
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Venus slipper orchid. Republic of Buryatia
The lady's slipper orchid, or Venus slipper (Latin: Cypripedium calceolus) is an ancient herbaceous plant belonging to the Orchid family. In Russia, this flower is also called Adam's head, Mary's slipper, cuckoo boots. It can be seen in the European part of our country, in Siberia and in the Far East. It is included in the Red Book of the Russian Federation. On the territory of Buryatia, it is protected in the Barguzinsky and Jerginsky reserves, Zabaykalsky and Tunkinsky national parks.
According to legend, the name of the flower came from the slipper of Venus, the goddess of beauty. When Venus was running away from her pursuers through a swampy area, she tripped and dropped her slipper. This slipper miraculously transformed into the flower we now know as the Venus slipper.
This species is considered to be a representative of the most beautiful orchids of the northern regions of Russia.
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Snowdrop anemone. Orel region
Anemone sylvestris, or snowdrop windflower (also known in Russian as forest anemone), is a delicate flower of the buttercup family. Its name, "anemos," translates from Greek as "wind." The flower received its airy name due to its weightless petals that flutter at the slightest breeze. In Central Russia, the Orel region boasts large quantities of this Red Book plant, as anemones grow best at the intersection of forest-steppe and steppe zones.
There is a paradox in the "botanists' jokes" series: the forest anemone does not grow in forests, and its relative, the oak anemone, does not grow in oak groves. Forest anemone prefers bright and fairly dry places, it is often found in pine forests and sparse oak groves, as well as at forest edges. However, its delicate flowers are especially stunning among the shimmering feather grasses on steppe slopes. In religious-themed paintings, scarlet anemones are often depicted because, according to legend, red buds grew from Christ's blood after the crucifixion.
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.
