Best dahlias awarded at the International Exhibition in Kaunas

The Botanical Garden of Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) in Kaunas together with the Lithuanian Flower Breeding Society organized an International Dahlia Exhibition at the beginning of September. For two days, over half a thousand different varieties and examples of dahlias have been demonstrated from Lithuanian and Latvian botanical gardens and private collections thus making the event the most massive one in Lithuania for the last decade.

The dahlias from Rokiškis (M. Mociškytė), Panevėžys (V. Gasiūnaitė), Marijampolė district (D. Simonaitienė, V. Tereškevičius), Trakai (O. Kairienė), The Botanical Garden of Šiauliai University and Latvian National Botanical Garden in Salaspils were exhibited at the VMU’s Grand Hall’s lobby. The largest part of the exhibition – over 110 Dahlia’s varieties – was exhibited from the collection of the VMU Botanical Garden.

A special commission , led by Edvinas Misiukevičius, the head of the Lithuanian Flower Breeders’ Association, has elected dahlias winners in several nominations:

The best breed for picking – ‘Otilija’ (Virginija Gasiūnaitė);

The best new breed – ‘Ieva’ (dr. Arūnas Balsevičius);

The best dwarf breed – ‘Jean – Emmanuel Gillibert’, (dr. Arūnas Balsevičius);

Rector’s dahlia – ‘Hootenanny’ (VMU Botanical Garden Collection).