The experience of creating a rockery in the laboratory of ornamental Plants of the N.V. Tsitsin Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Currently, the use of decorative stony compositions in the urban landscaping system is again becoming one of the relevant directions. Strict selection of plants showing the greatest stability in the climatic conditions of the region and the ecological conditions of cities is of great importance. The article presents the experience of creating rockeries on the territory of the N.V. Tsitsin Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences (MBG RAS). The work was mainly carried out on the basis of the analysis of the consolidated list of rock ornamental herbaceous perennials from the collection fund of the department (currently – laboratory) of ornamental plants, including 108 names. Changes in the taxonomic composition of the species used in the course of long-term experiments have been studied. It was revealed that the most stable and promising for widespread use in stony compositions are representatives of the families Campanulaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Geraniaceae, Plumbaginaceae, Polemoniaceae, Cistaceae and Crassulaceae. When comparing geographical conditions, it was found that the analyzed experiment was dominated by species-representatives of the flora of North America, the Caucasus, East Asia, Eurasia and Europe (primarily species from Southern Europe). Therefore, it is legitimate to consider them the most promising donor regions for attracting ornamental herbaceous plants, which are later used in rockeries. The regularity of the distribution of the studied plants according to their ecological relevance is analyzed. It has been revealed that mountain species dominate (35.2% of the total number used in the field experiment), forest species account for 28.3%, 12.7% of species are characterized by their association with meadow communities.

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