ancient Pterocarya stenoptera (champion), Thuyopsis dolobrata and Phyllocladus alpinus ‘Silver Blades’. We just had time to admire Michelia doltsopa in flower before having to leave this interesting garden. Our final visit was to Fonmom Castle, the home of Sir Brooke Boothby who had very kindly invited us all to lunch. We sat at a long table in a room orig- inally built in 1180, and remodelled in Georgian times with beautiful plaster- work and furnishings. After lunch we had a tour of the garden which is on shallow limestone soil, and at times windswept. We admired a large Fagus syl- vatica f. purpurea planted on the edge of the escarpment in 1818, that had been given buttress walls to hold the soil and roots. There was a small Sorbus domes- tica growing in the lawn and we learnt that this tree is a native in the country nearby. We walked through the closely planted ornamental walled garden into the large productive walled vegetable garden. This final visit was a splen- did ending to our tour, and having thanked our host for his warm hospitality, we said goodbye to fellow members and departed after a memorable four days, so rich in plant content and well organised by our leader Rose Clay. ARBORETUM NEWS Trsteno Arboretum, Croatia (This is an edited version of a previously published article by Jadranka Beresford-Peirse) Vicinis laudor sed aquis et sospite celo Plus placeo et cultu splendidioris heri Haec tibi sunt hominum vestigia certa viator Ars ubi naturam perficit apta rudem. (Trsteno, 1502) The inscription above, with its reference to “the visual traces of the human race” is carved onto a stone in a pergola at the Trsteno Arboretum, Croatia, a place of beauty arising like a phoenix from the ashes of wanton destruction and natural disasters. The garden and arboretum at Trsteno, thought to be the oldest in Europe, was created from the late 15th century onwards around a villa built as a summer retreat on steep hillside about 12 miles north west of Dubrovnik by the locally eminent Gucetic or Gozze family. The tiny village of Trsteno, clustered around a small natural harbour on the Dalmatian coast, had at that time a small sea- faring population, who were encouraged by the Gozze family to bring back seeds and plants from their foreign travels, and also, it seems, buckets of earth with which to augment the somewhat meagre local soil. In fact, despite its thin covering of earth, the growing conditions at Trsteno turned out to be pro- pitious, situated as it is on limestone rock, and enjoying mild coastal condi- tions; the site also has the advantage of a substantial supply of spring water, and to take advantage of this a 15 - span aqueduct was constructed in 1492 to bring water to the garden (see p.117). In addition to the villa, the Chapel of St Jerome, a Belvedere (known as the Gloriette), grotto, fountain of Neptune and 114 an olive press were all built in the 1490’s, and at the same time the garden immediately next to the house was constructed in the formal Renaissance style. The cultural life and garden of this artistic family flourished until the first of many disasters struck, in the form of a devastating earthquake in 1667, in which the villa and fountain were irrepairably damaged. Both fountain and house were rebuilt during the 18th century in the Baroque style, the form in which they are seen today. Towards the end of the 19th century the garden was expanded and replanted, and the western part of the estate, known as Drvarica (meaning ‘wood’ or ‘for- est’) was laid out by Count Bassegli-Gozze on a terraced slope above the sea shore. This area, where many of the finest ornamental trees and shrubs in the collection were planted, cascades right down to the water’s edge. Here could be found cycads and palms, cedars, figs, olives and pines, Arbutus, Cercis sili- quastrum, Cinnamomum camphora, Gingko biloba, Liriodendron tulipifera, magno- lias, myrtles and oaks including Q. ilex, Q.pubescens, Q. suber and Q.trojana. Pride of place, however, goes to the two enormous and ancient oriental planes, Platanus orientalis, which stand on the road at the entrance to the gardens (p.117). The exact history of these titans, with trunks measuring 15m (50 ft ) in circumference, and a height of around 45 m (150 ft) high is unclear, but they are reputed to have been brought here from Constantinople 1000 years ago. Under the communist regime established in the aftermath of the Second World War the estate was nationalised and became the property of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, administered by the Yugoslav, now Croatian, Academy of Sciences and Arts, which still has overall responsibility for the arboretum and gardens today. State ownership did not however save it from an appalling act of cultural van- dalism, when it was systematically destroyed during the war of 1991-5. The garden was shelled by incendiary bombs, fired at close range from both sea and air, and over 10,000 trees were destroyed or damaged in the ensuing fire. The 19th century pine forest was completely destroyed, although fortunately the oldest part, the Renaissance garden immediately adjacent to the villa, was mainly unharmed. The Renaissance Belvedere was burnt and the villa was damaged, and the nurseries, cold frames and greenhouses were destroyed, along with most of the young plants they contained. Garden and laboratory equipment was looted and parts of the aqueduct were smashed. In 1991, in response to the damage caused to this and other Croatian treasures, Lady Jadranka Beresford-Peirse, a Croatian by birth, founded The International Trust for Croatian Monuments, which raised funds for the restoration of the Arboretum. Work began on clearing and replanting trees, and on rebuilding the Belvedere. Just when it seemed as though progress was being made, the latest (and hopefully the last) disaster occurred. In August 2000, after a long drought, a large part of the 19th century addition to the arboretum was consumed by a forest fire but thankfully, despite damage to garden sculpture, the fire was prevented from spreading to the Renaissance area, which was miraculously spared once again. Once more the Trust’s help 115 Trsteno Arboretum Above: Devastation in the 19th century Drvarica after the fire in 2000. Below: A folly stands amongst the ashes. photographs © Jadranka Beresford-Peirse photographs © Jadranka Beresford-Peirse The aqueduct, built in 1492, still stands and is One of the giant oriental planes at the entrance in use today (see p.114). to Trsteno Arboretum (p.115. A view of the garden around the house. Life and hope amongst the devastation (2001). 117 was needed, to raise funds and to publicise the plight of the arboretum. It is planned that the garden sculpture which suffered in this latest fire will be repaired by Croatian students who have, with the help of the Trust, been trained in the techniques of stone masonry at Weymouth College in Britain. Today, much of the garden has been cleared and replanted, and fire prevention measures have been installed. A management plan has been drawn up, and an archaeological survey undertaken, with the aim of understanding and restoring the historical plan of this important garden. Replanting is being undertaken and spontaneous regeneration of vegetation encouraged wherev- er possible. It is hoped that, in addition to the restoration of the garden and arboretum, Trsteno will become a centre for research into the biological diver- sity of the southern Adriatic region, with ex- situ conservation and a seed bank to conserve Mediterranean species and a network of contacts with similar institutions worldwide being built up. There is still much to be done. For further information, contact The International Trust for Croatian Monuments, 0207 589 1134. TEXT © JADRANKA BERESFORD-PEIRSE The Karaca Arboretum, Turkey Hayrettin Karaca In 1980, I decided to retire from business – at the time I was one of Turkey’s leading manufacturers of ready-to- wear clothing – and to devote myself to the natural world, my first and greatest love. I turned a family apple and pear orchard into the country’s first privately - owned arboretum. I had already done my homework, having travelled for ten years all over the world, visiting botanical gardens and arboreta of note, and started by collecting specimens of the Turkish woody flora, with special emphasis on conifers. Later, plants from all over the world were added. The arboretum now has a rich collection of conifers, the majority of which are dwarf species and forms; I am particularly interested in pines of Mexican ori- gin. I am also very fond of maples because of their beautiful colours in spring and autumn, and today we have a maple collection comprising 87 species, 14 subspecies, 4 hybrids, 94 cultivars and 145 of our own selected cultivars. Gradually, flowering trees such as Prunus and Malus, were added to our col- lection as well as broadleaf trees and bulbs, and we also aimed to have a large collection of rhizomatous and herbaceous plants endemic to Turkey. However, not all would adapt to the local conditions, so some are kept as live plants while others are in seed form. Recently we have concentrated on grow- ing as many oak species as conditions allow and now have 164 species of Quercus, five Lithocarpus, two Cyclobalanopsis and a Castanopsis. The oaks we have propagated and collected will soon be planted on the campuses of two universities and elsewhere in order to gain more space for this large collection. Karaca Arboretum is situated on 13.5 ha of land 3 km south of the Marmara 118 Sea, at 40o37’N and 29o15’E and at an altitude of 20 metres.