Botanical Garden is brought back to life

Yesterday, June 17th, an Arboretum and a Subtropical House were opened at KFU Botanical Garden numbering nearly 1135 species in the collection.  

To celebrate the special moment, the monument to Trachycarpus was unveiled. The plant was one of the early introductions to the Garden, contributed by Karl Fuchs, the founder of the Botanical Garden at Kazan Imperial University.

In 2016 Botanical Garden is going to celebrate its 210th anniversary. During its long history the place encountered several shutdowns due to lack of specialists from 1921 to 1984 and a financial crisis on the cusp of the 20th and 21th centuries. A decision to restore Botanical Garden was made by Rector Ilshat Gafurov in 2011 and it became a part of the Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology in 2013.

At present, there are two sections presented at the Garden – a glasshouse and an arboretum, with 1495 species of plants. The most valuable are the ones that were introduced from a different climate zone, and here they adjust without losing any biological properties. The arboretum is on a south-facing slope with several terraces representing various regions: the Far East, North America, Europe, Asia. 

The administration of Botanical Garden also tries to expand the cooperation with other similar institutions, e.g. in 2009 nearly 30 breeds of peonies were brought here from Perm State University and at the moment they are blossoming.