TREASURES OF EASTERN EUROPE
A couple of years ago I was looking for a large-flowered clematis for my garden. Paging through various catalogs, I noticed a lot of clematis named after famous Poles. One of the most notable was ‘Cardinal Wyszynski’, a large, red-flowered variety, named after Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski, former Roman Catholic Primate of Poland. Another, ‘General Sikorski’, boasts large purple blooms and is named for Wladyslaw Sikorski, a fabled military and political leader of pre-World War II Poland.
Curious about the Polish clematis, I did some research and found out about Brother Stefan Franczak, a Jesuit brother, born in 1914, who began breeding clematis in the 1960’s in the garden that he created at a Jesuit college in Warsaw. Brother Stefan’s clematis are noted for their beauty and hardiness, a fitting tribute to the notable Poles for whom they are named. The monk also hybridized a number of daylilies and iris. Sadly, since 2003, the aged Brother Stefan, who created an oasis of beauty amid the institutionalized ugliness of post-war Warsaw, has had to watch while his garden was gradually obliterated by college authorities who wanted a lawn rather than a garden. Fortunately for clematis lovers, during his active years, Brother Stefan fostered relationships with nurserymen and clematis breeders in Western Europe, and many of his clematis are now available all over the world.
The Franczak clematis made me curious about other eastern European horticultural treasures that might have been discovered or rediscovered in the twenty years since the fall of Communism. I found out that once the political and physical barriers between Eastern Europe and the West were removed, they revealed a veritable garden of heirloom plants and previously undiscovered species. The change also provided greatly increased opportunities for cooperation among horticulturists on both sides of the old “iron curtain”.
While doing some research on old varieties of hyacinths, I came across an article on Alan Shipp, an English plantsman and holder of the English national collection of hyacinths. Beginning in 1998, Shipp sought to enlarge his hyacinth holdings, developing contacts with individuals and institutions in Eastern Europe. His contacts in Lithuania alone have yielded numerous new varieties, including some that had disappeared completely from commerce. I can hardly wait until the double yellow hyacinth that Shipp discovered in Lithuania is available in the United States.
By keeping Eastern bloc countries relatively closed to outside influences, Communism created an environment where older plants were not as readily supplanted by new and different hybrids and varieties. Universities and agricultural research stations amassed and preserved large collections of vegetable, flowers and herb seeds. Not all the agricultural land in some eastern bloc countries could be collectivized, and in those areas, traditional agricultural methods and crops survived. Now the world can benefit from a renewed acquaintance with great old varieties as well as a beneficial increase in biodiversity–at least for a little while. Modernization has swept through Eastern Europe, threatening that biodiversity and in some countries warfare has created an equally serious threat. There is not a moment to lose in the efforts to save the newfound heirlooms.
Among the most prominent Americans involved in this effort is Kent Whealey of Decorah, Iowa. Whealey, co-founded of The Seed Savers Exchange in 1975, and has devoted his career to collecting and preserving heirloom varieties of food, forage and ornamental plants. Fifteen years ago, Mr. Whealey expanded his efforts to the international level when he founded Seed Savers International, which assists professional plant collectors in Eastern Europe and elsewhere in their efforts to collect and preserve old varieties. A glance at the extensive Seed Savers catalog, available at www.seedsaversexchange.org, reveals a wealth of Eastern European and Russian plant varieties, as well as wonderful heirlooms from America and the rest of the world.
There is nothing wrong with new plant varieties and it is exciting to see what breeders come up with every year. But it’s also important not to forget the past. With the renewed interest in environmentalism and biodiversity, the time for heirlooms has arrived.