A collection demonstrating the taxonomic and ornamental diversity of woody angiosperms cultivars suitable for cultivation in Lithuanian conditions.

Woody angiosperms varieties (also known as cultivars) are cultivated plants that have been artificially created or selected by man and are biologically valuable. The word 'cultivar' was coined in 1923 by the American horticulturist and botanist Liberty Hyde Bailey, one of the founders of the American Society for Horticultural Science. He defined cultivars as plants that constituted a botanical diversity resulting from human intervention. These can be both evergreen (e.g. Ilex aquifolium 'Golden Queen') and summer-green (e.g. Calycanthus 'Aphrodite') deciduous trees and shrubs. New varieties of woody angiosperms are developed every year around the world to reveal a new or altered ornamental trait in the plant, such as bloom and leaf colour, shape, size etc.

The vision of VU Botanical Garden is to build up a collection of woody angiosperm varieties, which will reveal the taxonomic and ornamental diversity of the species. For the collection, the aim is to select only those deciduous varieties that are best adapted to grow in Lithuanian climate conditions.

According to written sources, varieties of woody angiosperms have been cultivated in Lithuania for a long time, for example, in 1652 in the garden of Jonas Kazimieras Vaza, Viburnum opulus 'Roseum', Buxus sempervirens 'Rotundifolia', etc. In 1818, it is recorded that Ilex aquifolium 'Variegata', Syringa vulgaris 'Alba', etc. were growing in the garden of J. Strumila in Vilnius. VU Botanical Garden's woody angiosperm cultivars can be considered to date back to the foundation of the garden in the centre of the city (now Pilies Street 22) in 1781, when the founder, prof. Joannes Emmanuel Gilibert brought the first plants from the botanical garden of the Grodno Medical School. Among the more than 2000 different taxa, varieties such as Populus nigra 'Italica', Fraxinus excelsior 'Pendula', etc. were cultivated. Later on, the botanical garden was established in a new location in Vingis (1919), and in 1975 the VU Botanical Garden moved to Kairėnai with some of the plants. Some of the plants still adorn the garden today, such as Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea', Physocarpus opulifolius 'Luteus', etc.

For the collection of woody angiosperm varieties, plants that can survive up to the 6th USDA wnter resistance zone are selected. There are exceptions, of course, as the recent winters in Lithuania have shown that plants in zones 6a and 6b can currently overwinter in Vilnius. The most important criteria for selecting a plant for the collection are the colour range and the shape, both in terms of leaves and blooms. The height of the plant is also an important consideration, as there are both dwarf specimens (less than 1m) and very tall specimens (up to several meters).

		Japanese Flowering Cherry (Prunus serrulata 'Kiku-Shidare') A tree 2-5m tall and about 3-4m wide, with swaying branches. The blooms are pink and double. Fruits are egg-shaped and black. Blooms in early May. Bred in Japan.
		Common beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Dawyck Gold') A 10-15 meter tall tree with a dense columnar crown. The leaves are elliptic, yellow-gold in spring and light green in summer, with a glossy surface. Bred at Dawyck Botanical Garden, Scotland.
		Sweet mock orange (Philadelphus coronarius 'Aureus') About 2.5m tall and 1.5m wide shrub. The blooms are white, the young leaves are yellow, and they are light green when mature. Blooms in June.
		Common ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius 'Diabolo') Shrub up to 3m tall. The blooms are white, clustered in hemispherical inflorescences. Leaves are double-flowered, dark purple. Blooms after flowering, June-July. Bred in Japan.