Gladioli

Included in the state register of botanical collections of the Republic of Belarus (certificate No. 13, issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus on 02.08.2005).
Curator of the collection is junior researcher Alesya Vladimirovna Kruchonok.
The collection includes more than 540 taxa from 3 genera (Acidanthera, Gladiolus, x Gladanthera), belonging to the family Iridaceae.

History

• Before the Great Patriotic War, there was no collection of gladioli in the Central Botanical Garden, and in the post-war period (before 1955) there were no more than 60 varieties. (Perennial Flowering Plants: Brief Summary of Introduction / Ed. by Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR N.V. Smolsky. – Minsk: Science and Technology, 1972. – 312 p.).
• 1962 - 577 species and intraspecific taxa (Central Botanical Garden of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR: Guide. – Minsk: 1962).
• 1972 - over 400 varieties of domestic and foreign selection (Perennial Flowering Plants: Brief Summary of Introduction / Ed. by Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR N.V. Smolsky. – Minsk: Science and Technology, 1972. – 312 p.).
• 1979 - 698 varieties (Introduction and Acclimatization of Plants in Belarus. – Minsk: Science and Technology, 1979. - P.39). They attracted a modern gene pool, carried out selection work and received such varieties as: Pamyati geroev Brest, Chary Vyasny, Alesik, Ulybka, Na Svitanni, Minsk.
• In the last decade of the last century, the collection had difficult times, in 2000, verification of varietal affiliation began, the collection had 46 verified varieties.
• Since 2005, the composition has increased quantitatively and qualitatively.

The creators and keepers of the collection in different years were A.S. Merlo, O.I. Mankevich, K.K. Ipatyeva, O.I. Svitkovskaya.

Collection structure

The majority of the collection consists of varieties of the Eastern European ecotype, represented by varieties of Russian and Ukrainian breeders, bred in the last 20 years. 22% of the composition are North American varieties. Varieties of Western European breeders from the Netherlands, the Baltics and the Czech Republic are represented in relatively equal shares (8%, 5% and 5% respectively). Only 1% of the total number falls on varieties of the Australian-New Zealand group. In the future, there is a task to replenish varieties from this region.

The main part of the collection consists of varieties created in the last 20 years. The varieties bred in the period from 1961 to 1980 are mostly represented by the American-Canadian line. This is elite material, which received a kind of quality mark in the form of the "AA" marking (All American Gladiolus Selection). They served as the basis for the creation of modern varieties of the Eastern European direction. A few varieties of the period 1940-1960 are honored veterans and carriers of an important feature of resistance to a complex of diseases. Western European genetic lines prevail in this group.

Analysis of the distribution of the time of creation of varieties within garden groups by perianth color showed that the "youngest" are the groups of smoky and smoky-brown, violet-blue, white and green gladioli, which corresponds to the position in the world collection. The most fully represented groups are lilac, crimson and purple, pink and salmon-pink gladioli. The oldest varieties belong to the orange group

Research areas

• study of the development features of varieties from remote selection centers in the conditions of the Republic of Belarus; formation of a list of the most resistant varieties for amateur gardening and recommendations for their cultivation;
• testing of new mineral and organic fertilizer complexes on the culture of gladiolus hybrid and establishing patterns of their influence on the growth and development of plants;
• study of the distribution features of decorative and economic-biological traits during hybridization.