General Horticultural Exhibition 5–14 September 1885

The General Horticultural Exhibition of the Kingdom of Poland was held in Warsaw at the Ujazdów fields (modern-day Ujazdów Park), at the site of the earlier Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition, from 5 to 14 September 1885. The site was designed by Franciszek Szanior [1] and Walerian Kronenberg [2], some of the most distinguished Polish greenery designers of the 19th century. The event was also attended by countess Aleksandra Potocka [3], who won a total of 13 medals for her selection of ferns, Arum plants, coniferous greenhouse plants, and bucket-planted fruit trees. She received the most important award, the minor gold medal, for the most beautiful and most numerous selection of cold greenhouse leafy and flowering plants. In this competition she presented diverse species: lily-of-the-valley-tree (Clethra arborea Aiton), Mediterranean cypress (Cupressus sempervirens L.), including the 'Pyramidalis' variety, Mexican cypress (Hesperocyparis benthamii [Endl.] Bartel), myrtle (Myrtus Tourn. ex L.), an Eugenia tree (Eugenia P.Micheli ex L.), horoeka (Pseudopanax crassifolius [Sol. ex A.Cunn.] K.Koch), Himalayan cedar (Cedrus deodara [Roxb. ex D.Don] G.Don), Himalayan flowering dogwood (Cornus capitata subsp. capitata), Japanese pittosporum (Pittosporum tobira [Thunb.] W.T.Aiton), citron (Citrus medica L.), bitter orange (Citrus × aurantium L.), a Citrus angustifolia with an unknown taxonomic status, and a rhododendron or azalea (Rhododendron L.). A unique memento of this event are countess Aleksandra Potocka’s diplomas, now part of the collection of the Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów (Wil.4218–Wil.4230).