© Muzeum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów
Silva Rerum   Silva Rerum   |   01.12.2022
Jacek Kuśmierski

General Horticultural Exhibition 21 September 1881

The first General Horticultural Exhibition in Warsaw was open at the Swiss Valley garden on 21 September 1881. Countess Aleksandra Potocka [1] and her chief horticulturists, Stanisław Górski of Wilanów and Aleksander Pajączkowski of Natolin, also attended the many competitions for the most beautiful plants. Details of the competitions were reported in numerous press articles. The attention of the jury and the audience was drawn particularly to Dracaena plants (Dracaena Vand. ex L.), palms, cycads (Cycas L.), ferns and yukkas (Yucca L.). An exceptional specimen was the Brazilian Goeppertia zebrina (Sims) Nees. Potocka’s horticulturists won first place in the competition for cold greenhouse leafy plants (category no. 41), and they received the committee’s thanks for the leafy greenhouse plants (category no. 43). The final collection exhibited, in the following order: an Aloe purpurea (Aloe purpurea Lam.), mamaku Sphaeropteris medullaris (G.Forst.) Bernh., cabbage-palm (Cordyline australis [G.Forst.] Endl.), ponytail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata [K.Koch & Fintelm.]), Mediterranean dwarf palm (Chamaerops humilis L.), dragon tree (Dracaena draco [L.] L.), an Anthurium crystallinum (Anthurium crystallinum Linden & André) and echeveria (Echeveria gibbiflora DC.). The core of the group were prayer plants (Maranta Plum. ex L.), begonias (Begonia L.) and unspecific ferns.

[1] Aleksandra Potocka née Potocka (born 26 March 1818 in Petersburg, died 6 January 1892 in Warsaw) – Polish aristocrat, wife of count August Potocki and owner of the Wilanów palace from 1840 to 1892.

This text is part of the implementation tasks of the Author’s doctoral thesis Technical, aesthetic and management standards of restoring an exotic plant collection in historic gardens exemplified by the Wilanów residence, conducted in cooperation with Cracow University of Technology and the Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów, financed by the Ministry of Education and Science under the 5th edition of the “Implementation doctorate” programme.

Bibliography
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