“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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Adams' rhododendron. Irkutsk region
Adams' rhododendron is a small evergreen shrub with a pleasant scent. The flowers are small and pale pink. It is endemic to Eastern Siberia and is listed in the Red Book of the Irkutsk region. The plant is named after the naturalist and botanist Johann Friedrich (Mikhail Ivanovich) Adams, who first described it in his report following an expedition to Eastern Siberia. It does not grow in artificially created environments and is found only in nature.
For the indigenous peoples of Siberia, sagan dailya — as they call Adams' rhododendron - has always been considered a miraculous plant. They prepare a tizan (herbal drink) from it, which was used in magical rituals and ceremonies at the imperial courts of the Qing dynasty in China. In Buddhist mythology, rhododendron is one of the seven plants surrounding the god of medicine and health. Siberian shamans brewed an aromatic drink from it to communicate with the gods. The plant is shrouded in legends.
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Sunflower. Kherson region
The sunflower belongs to a vast polymorphic genus in the Asteraceae family. The Latin name of the genus, Helianthus, translates to "sun flower."
A sunflower is not just a single flower but thousands of tiny ones, called disc florets, because their centers form perfect spirals. The flowers in the center of a sunflower grow according to a precise mathematical pattern called the golden ratio.
The Russian name (“podsolnukh” that can be roughly translated as “under the sun flower”) arises from the ability of the flower heads to always turn toward the sun. Sunflowers have a special sensitivity to sunlight, which allows their heads to turn throughout the day, following the sun’s path across the sky.
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Fern, or Common Ostrich Fern. Kemerovo Region
The common ostrich fern (Latin: Matteuccia struthiopteris) is a perennial fern, a species of the genus Ostrich Fern from the Onocleaceae family. This hardy, shade-tolerant ornamental plant is listed in the Red Books of several regions of Russia.
The common name for this fern comes from the resemblance of its fronds to ostrich feathers. The broad, feathery foliage of the ostrich fern is colored in an emerald hue, although the color can range from light green to brown. The height of the plants can range from 1.5 to 2 meters.
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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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Komarov’s lotus. Khabarovsk region
Komarov's lotus (Nelumbo komarovii Grossh.) is a wild-growing, highly ornamental, medicinal, food and ritual plant. It is included in the Red Data Books of the Russian Federation, Khabarovsk, Primorye region, Jewish Autonomous and Amur regions.
There are two very close species in Russia: Caspian lotus in the European part and Komarov's lotus in the Far East. The Far Eastern lotus was described and singled out as an independent species by Alexander Grossheim in 1940. He named it in honor of Vladimir Leontievich Komarov, the greatest Russian botanist, researcher of the flora of the Far East and neighboring countries. As of now, one of the leading botanists of the region — Doctor of Biological Sciences Maria Kryukova — has been studying lotus in the Khabarovsk region for more than 30 years.
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.
