Hungarian Conifer Trip

In the summer of 1999 I was given the opportunity of a lifetime. The committee organizing the International Conifer Conference in England asked me to present a paper on North American cultivars. When a Hungarian friend, Zsolt Mesterhazy, learned I was coming to the continent, he offered to spend a week showing me the major conifer collections in the Budapest area.

This week in Hungary was the first part of a five week excursion which also included the Czech Republic, Holland, Austria, and England. During this time, I took over 2000 slides of gardens, plants, and scenery. I would like to share some of my experiences and give the reader some insight into the status of conifer horticulture in Hungary.

On July 25 I flew into Budapest where Zsolt met me at the airport. He drove me to an excellent hotel that is presently owned by the ministry of agriculture. It used to be reserved for visiting Communist officials. The hotel not only had a full sized swimming pool but also bowling alleys and an exercise room for less than $30.00/night.

Before describing gardens and plants I observed throughout this area of Hungary, I should mention a few political items. I had some concerns about visiting a nation which had only been free of Russian dominance for about ten years. I soon found my concerns to be unfounded.

Hungary is a nation that has only recently been allowed to rebuild after the ravages of WWII and the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. The government is expending vast sums of money to develop infrastructure. With an agrarian based economy Hungary is not a wealthy country and its financial resources are limited.

I was surprised to observe that most people own cellular phones, not because they are wealthy, but because there are few telephone lines in many areas of Hungary. I even saw farmers in horse-drawn wagons talking on their cell phones.

Average income is very low. Everything made in Hungary is very inexpensive for a visitor, but expensive for the locals. Austrians regularly travel to Hungary to make purchases, and many even own land in Hungary.

The people are very friendly but travel can be difficult in the countryside since few of them speak English outside of the cities. Citizens were expected to learn Russian as a second language. Now that the Russians have left, the young people are learning English as their second language.

Few tourists go out into the countryside. They miss seeing the real Hungary with its many farms, scattered villages, and ancient houses. Great food is served in outstanding restaurants in many out-of-the-way places. A full dinner with tip is less than $5.00 U.S.

Most of the public gardens suffer from a lack of maintenance. The Communist system considered gardens a waste of funds unless they produce timber or agricultural commodities. The manor houses situated on many public gardens were turned into what we would call low rent housing and filled with families. Today the local governments own many of them but they cannot afford their maintenance. Even the largest gardens are severely understaffed. Everyone has to work very hard just to keep the weeds under control and the pathways clean. The manor houses are still often filled with unemployed families, but no one, not even the local government, has the funds to be 'good' owners.

On the morning of Monday, July 26 my adventure began. Zsolt met me at the hotel, where we were joined by Dr. Laszlo Orloci, Melinda Meszaros, Antal Acs, and Andras Nemenyi for three days of road travel across Hungary into Austria.

Our first visit was with a nurseryman, Artur Ruisz, an enthusiastic nurseryman and conifer collector.

The Ruisz Nursery produces a wide assortment of conifer liners. His nursery is small by western standards, but a nice sized family operation for this part of the world.

The climate and soils in this region of Hungary do pose limitations upon conifer choices for the garden and also for a nursery. However, Ruisz has an excellent garden with a variety of plants next to his home.

Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Stewartii’, demonstrating the typical pendulous growth habit of a mature specimen, makes a nice backdrop to a part of his conifer garden.

A few of the plants that I found especially interesting included a Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Globus’ (‘Barabits Globe’) that had taken on an egg-shaped appearance common to grafted plants of this cultivar.

Sequoia giganteum ‘Barabits Requiem’ is a pendulous selection made by Dr. Elemer Barabits that is very distinctive from the limp branched cultivar ‘Pendulum’.

A miniature selection of Picea pungens named ‘Pali’ was, for me, the highlight of his collection. It is a very dense, globular plant with small needles and good blue color. Another spruce, Picea abies ‘Tompa’ was also quite interesting. A fine specimen in Ruisz’s garden was exhibiting a broader growth habit than my own specimen of ‘Tompa’.

After touring the garden, Mr. Ruisz offered us a glass of wine produced locally (I opted for juice). When we left, he made me a gift of nearly a full gallon of wine to enjoy during my Hungarian visit.

The rural Hungarian countryside is most pleasant to drive through. In many places large fields of sunflowers extend to the horizon. The villages are small and scattered, with individual homes rarely found between them.

Arboretum Sopronhorpacs is owned by the village of the same name. Many fine old specimens, such as the largest Cunninghamia in Hungary, are growing here. A nice specimen of Cupressocyparis leylandii ‘Hagerston Gray’ grows along the edge of a wide grass sward extending from the front of the manor house.

This arboretum is indicative of a major problem faced by a nation trying to recover from forty years of Communism. The village has no funds to maintain the grounds, and except for an occasional mowing of the pathways, little can be done. The manor house itself is fully occupied by a number of families. The village acknowledges ownership of the grounds and the house, which is showing signs of neglect and disrepair.

Our next visit was to the garden and nursery of a man who has been collecting conifers his whole life and managed to continue his hobby/nursery through an era of repression and discouragement of privately owned businesses.

My visit with Dr. Barabits and his wife was most enjoyable. They spoke no English, and I spoke no Hungarian but somehow plant discussions will often transcend language barriers.

On the street next to his property is one of the oldest Cupressocyparis (Cupressus) leylandii in Hungary, a ‘Hagerston Gray’.

As we toured his garden, I felt as if I had come to a very special place. A swimming pool partially surrounded by massive conifer plantings was the first thing to catch my eye. Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Triumph von Barabits’, a seedling from ‘Triumph von Boskoop’, was most impressive. 

Then, as I looked toward the house, I saw Zsolt standing behind a display of miniature conifers in containers. Most of these conifers were propagated from unnamed witches’-brooms, and many of them were over 20 years old.

Standing next to Zsolt on the patio, I had an even better view of the yard and pool. Most of the plants in the garden were Chamaecyparis lawsoniana cultivars selected by Dr. Barabits. He has worked extensively with seedlings of this species throughout the years and has discovered ‘Triumph von Boskoop’ to be especially prolific at producing aberrant seedlings.

A wall to the rear of Dr. Barabits’ property shows a collection of Chamaecyparis obtusa seedlings grafted onto standards and a Sequoiadendron giganteum ‘Pendulum’ in the distance.

Nearby is a block of hybrid seedlings produced from a cross between Thuja occidentalis ‘Semperaurea’ and ‘Umbraculifera’.

There are dense plantings on both sides of the pathway, and partially hidden in one of these plantings is a specimen of Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Sylvania Glauca’ with its intense blue foliage.

A group of plants that originated as shoot mutations on Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Ellwoodii’ caught our interest and demonstrated just how variable this species really is. No wonder the number of named Chamaecyparis lawsoniana cultivars could be almost endless, making it the hosta of the conifer world.

At the end of the lane behind his home I had my photo taken with Dr. Barabits in front of the parent plant of Sequoiadendron giganteum ‘Barabits Requiem’.

Shortly thereafter we had lunch in Sopron with Dr. Barabits and continued on to his nursery.

At his nursery we were able to see many mature conifers. Here is the group in front of some of the oldest Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Barabits Globe': myself, Dr. Barabits, Zsolt, Antal, Laszlo, and Melinda.

A mature plant of Picea pungens ‘Edit’, named for Dr. Barabits’ wife, shows excellent color and texture with a nice growth habit.

As we walked through the nursery, we saw many plants that we would like to have in our own gardens, too many to include in this brief article.

Dr. Barabits has many plants under observation at his nursery, such as these selections of Picea pungens seedlings and witches’-brooms.

We returned to our Panzio (hotel) for the evening and a good night’s rest. The next day we were to visit a Mr. Honeman in Austria, a well-known conifer collector and nurseryman.

Unfortunately we did not see his collection because it was too far to travel in a day. Instead we visited one of his stock plant locations between two large cornfields in the Austrian countryside. A number of rare plants were seen as mature specimens. 

Later as we enjoyed lunch in a nearby village, I noticed that much of the traffic was agricultural in nature: tractors and combines. The homes were all nicely maintained and the typical peasant house was built very long, like those in Hungary.

After returning to Sopron, we said farewell to Dr. and Mrs. Barabits and traveled to Folly Arboretum on Lake Balaton.

On the way we passed an old Hungarian fortress sitting on a hilltop. It was impressive, even from a distance.

Folly Arboretum was closed for the day so we could not enter. But we were able to see the small Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca’ forest from a distance. The seedlings from this grove tend to develop into specifically shaped/colored trees.

The next day found me in Budapest spending the day with Zsolt, Laszlo, and Melinda touring Elte Botanical Gardens of the University. Laszlo is the Curator at the Gardens and maintains the National Cupressocyparis leylandii (now designated by taxonomists as Cupressus leylandii) collection in the botanical garden. All of these leylandii are the same age.

Cupressocyparis leylandii ‘Leighton Green’ is in the collection but is planned to be prohibited from being planted or even propagated in Hungary. It produces too much pollen and affects allergies.

Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Fantana’ is the best performing cultivar of this species throughout much of Hungary. Seldom is a poor specimen observed anywhere in the country.

Laszlo spends considerable time obtaining new plants for testing under Hungarian conditions of climate and soil. The large conifer by the greenhouse is an eight-year-old seedling of Cupressus arizonica from seed collected at a natural stand in Arizona.

Lunch was at a bar/restaurant in Budapest next to the university and set me back $4.50 U.S. including a Coke and the tip.

The afternoon was spent at Varga Marton Horticultural School in another part of Budapest. Antal is an instructor at the school and Laszlo is a lecturer. It is a school with such a good reputation that the best graduating student may go on to the university without taking an entrance exam. Both Andras and Laszlo are alumni of this school.

A small pinetum of dwarf conifers is under development by Antal and Laszlo with the aid of student workers. Financial constraints have hindered its development, but progress is being made.

I was put to work planting a tree that was dedicated in honor of my visit to the school. It was a privilege to be remembered in this way.

Zsolt gave moral support to my efforts but was not allowed to help with the digging.

Afterwards we posed for a picture and cooled off with some cold Coca Cola. Antal seemed to enjoy my constant drinking of Cokes instead of the more traditional beer or wine.

I visited a number of arboreta during my time in Hungary and in the interest of completing this travelogue, I’ll briefly mention a few of them.

Kamoni Arboretum is known throughout the world and quite large. It is woefully understaffed, as are most Hungarian arboreta, but the staff’s dedication keeps it from falling into disrepair.

Pseudotsuga menziesii ‘Taratenis Thesia’ is an attractive blue form of Douglas fir at Kamoni.

Picea abies ‘Kamon’ is a dwarf, broadly conical plant that originated from a witches’-broom in Picea abies ‘Virgata’ at Kamoni Arboretum. The broom is pictured here.

Old specimens of Thuja occidentalis ‘Holmstrup’ are very impressive when they are allowed to develop undisturbed.

Thuja occidentalis ‘Malonyana’ is seen throughout this part of Hungary. It is commonly planted everywhere. This picture shows why. To the right are old specimens of Thuja occidentalis ‘Ellwangerana Aurea’.

The Mesterhazy Pinetum is a planting for the scientific evaluation of conifers to determine their suitability for cultivation in Hungary. These conifers must tolerate hot, dry summers, cold winters, and alkaline soils. Thuja occidentalis ‘Smaragd’ (‘Emerald’) is an excellent plant for these conditions. The golden plant is Thuja occidentalis ‘Malonyana Gold’, which also does well.

Szelestei Arboretum is privately owned and undergoing renovation at a slow pace. The manor house is landscaped in the English style.

There are many old plants on the grounds, such as this unlabeled Chamaecyparis lawsoniana.

Vacratot Botanical Garden is well cared for and appears to be a very popular place for visitors. The entrance area is nicely landscaped.

A Taxodium distichum has developed knees over a wide area.

Vacratot is most famous for its systematic plant collection as viewed in one photo and explained in the other.

On my last day in Hungary Zsolt took me around Budapest to see some of the sights. After all, I had to do some tourist things.

A green roofed museum stood out in this city of churches.

The trolleys are old but serviceable and always in heavy use.

I had to visit the Heroe's square before leaving for the Czech Republic.

We even visited a major market in the heart of Budapest where a wide variety of items were available at very good prices for a westener.

My visit to Hungary was a memorable event. I would not hesitate to repeat it, with Dianne. The old gardens still have many beautiful conifer specimens and in time will hopefully be restored to their former glory.

Counter Started December 1, 2001