During our visit to Hungary we were surprised at the number of unfamiliar tree cultivars of Hungarian origin. I suspect that during its 44 years under communism the country did not have full access to the genetics of the West, and thus nurseries developed their own selections. We saw a good many Hungarian selections of Ginkgo biloba. Here are three Hungarian selections (above) that we had never heard of before venturing into this Eastern European country.
If there are any tree growers reading this, I would suspect that you would find the wide array of Hungarian tree selections quite interesting. You might consider making a trip to Hungary to see for yourself. We saw many interesting Hungarian tree selections including many unique cultivars of Morus, Platanus, Pyrus, Prunus, Salix and Sorbus. We were particularly impressed with the selections of Sorbus. I will post of few of the more interesting cultivars in my next post.
Tim;
ReplyDeleteI love Ginkgos, for their shape and structure, their leaf shapes and their colors. I hope someone imports the Hettich cultivar based on your picture. Its ovoid vs. conical shape, large leaves and large trunk vs. overall size make it an especially pretty tree. Obviously it's a good street tree too.
Thanks for sharing your adventure and finds.
Bill
Good comment. I think it has a bit of a weeping nature to it as well. A very good looking street tree.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame our street trees lack the diversity I see in Europe. How many Bradford Pears (Cleveland Select) can we take.
The real danger of this has come to life in the great lakes where the Emerald ash borer is rapidily killing all the ash - a monoculture street tree in this part of the county. You would have thought we learned our lesson after dutch Elm Disease killed our monoculture of American Elms.
It good to mix it up - and it's a lot more interesting as well.
I love Ginkgos ... sadly, after trying for many years I have managed to plant and kill about 6. The fact that they are one of the oldest species of tree I find completely fascinating, especially since I can't seem to keep them around more than a year or two. Perhaps it's the climate in southern Michigan (although I'm told they should be fine). I've resorted to this: https://www.silkplantsforever.com/index.php?route=product/search&filter_name=gingko but would love to grow one outdoors.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this blog - love to see what you see, especially the diversity in other climates.