So field season is finished. Looking back in my bookshelf I saw that my travel diaries occupy almost 1 meter of space, and I really was surprised seeing the first diaries back with cipher “1977” - so it means that current year is some small jubilee - I finished my 35-th field session. It is good cipher. Really my first trip was in 1975 but then I had no diary, no list of collected plants, although few from this I’m still growing and just then I for the first time discovered and collected few bulbs of Iris pseudocapnoides described later by me in Buried Treasures, but I’m not counting this as too unserious trip - but it made me ill with mountains.
Looking back on lists of collected and introduced in cultivation plants I’m something surprised by the number of plants checked in my collection during those years. Many didn’t like my conditions, especially under soviet regime, when greenhouses were not allowed in private gardens. Some I lost for my own faults and from those most painful losses for me is Allium brachyscapum (hope to restore it from seeds, received this summer).
Great surprise for me brought Kazakhstan trip this May when after coming to Alma-Ata I was greeted in hotel’s hall by our guide Vladimir with words - Janis, do you remember me? He was the young man whom I met in Kara-tau Mountains during my fifth trip. At that time he was there exploring local snake population and maid some pictures. Shortly ago he found his old pictures from that time and sent one scan to me (you can see it here). Now one new tulip species brings his name - Tulipa kolbintzevii. I went to Kazakhstan mostly for Crocus alatavicus samples from most eastern locations - generally for checking of DNA variation in different populations of its wide area.
At present my collection raised to almost 6000 samples, from those crocuses by last revision something exceeds 1500 samples. Far too much in both numbers. But how to stop? Every autumn at replanting time I want to shorten my collection, but results are as they are - planting books becomes thicker and thicker. I think that best illustration you can see on last picture - painting on postcard sent to me by my Norwegian friend.
My bag is in rooms corner now waiting for spring, when again I will go to Greece, where still 1-2 crocuses are waiting for checking of their status. And may be they are new?
Janis
