Sparrows Park is known today far beyond the Kaluga region, where it is located, about 75 km from Moscow. The name was given to him by the village of Vorobyi, located nearby, but not only. It also hints at the park's occupation.
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This is an example of the successful implementation of a private initiative, which began with a collection of heat-loving birds of the Belyavsky family, primarily parrots, which were kept in an ordinary Moscow apartment. In 2003, in order to accommodate the growing collection of birds, it was decided to organize a private park, for which a field covered with ravines in the Kaluga region was purchased. After just 2 years, the park was opened to visitors. Now it is a full-fledged zoo, where you can see not only amazing rare birds, but also many animals. There is an exotarium and an aquarium, an ecological path that leads to the forest. Like any zoo, the Sparrow Park fulfills the tasks of not only organizing family recreation, but also the reproduction of rare species and ecological education. Today the park has the largest collection of birds in Russia and supplies chicks to many zoos, circus institutions and private farms in the country. It has grown into a breeding center for rare species of parrots (they are hand-fed here) and holds scientific conferences.
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The park operates all year round, although the most massive visit here is observed, of course, in the warm season. A complete infrastructure has been created for family recreation - its own hotel complex, a lot of playgrounds and entertainment, pony riding. Food points have been organized - cafes and trays with sweets. Here you can try ostrich eggs or ostrich kebabs from a local ostrich farm.
For landscaping the territory of the park, they first began to independently propagate plants, and then sell them - this is how a small private nursery appeared.
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Recently, they decided to expand the park by adding a new territory located across the road - an ostrich farm, dwarf animals, and a collection of butterflies were placed on it. Visitors pass to them through the park of stones brought from different parts of our country - both from the Urals and from the Kola Peninsula. The collection of minerals can also be explored here.
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But the first thing that a visitor sees when he gets to this half of the park is a large greenhouse "Tropical World". It has become home to hundreds of species and varieties of tropical plants. I must say that they were very lucky - excellent conditions have been created for them, the plants are planted in the ground of the greenhouse, generously illuminated, and periodically fog-forming nozzles are switched on under the ceiling and fill the air with the smallest droplet moisture.
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The greenhouse building was laid in August 2013, and on May 31, 2014, Tropical World opened its doors to visitors. Two machines for planting material were supplied by a Dutch company specializing in landscaping large objects - greenhouses, aqua parks, etc.).
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You can inspect the plants by moving along two parallel paths that divide the greenhouse area into 3 parts. Above them there is a semblance of pergolas entwined with different types of passionflower with blue and red flowers, varieties Macinata Red, Lavender Lady, Coerulea Blue.
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Beautiful compositions of flowering and ornamental-deciduous plants are provided with plates for acquaintance with the species and varieties. Large-sized ones are lined with lower plants to create a ground cover effect - calatheas, aglaonems, ferns. At the very entrance, hibiscus blossomed in the vicinity of lyre ficus, palms and ground cover plant species.
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But, of course, large-sized animals and rare species of tropical inhabitants attracted special attention. Let's start with the most familiar - ficuses.
Ficus Ali(Ficus alii) - a well-known species for indoor plant lovers. Some of the most unpretentious indoor environments. But to those who have not seen it at home, in India or Indonesia, its size will seem surprising.A large, beautifully formed tree with long, dense foliage is a great decoration for the greenhouse.
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Ficus brilliant(Ficus nitida) - more correctly - small-fruited ficus Nitida (Ficus microcarpa Nitida) - originally from India and Malaysia. Has a dense crown, one of the most resistant ficuses in the culture. The leaves contain latex, and the gray trunk is densely covered with lenticels. May produce small yellowish green fruits.
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Ficus bengal (Ficus benghalensis), or Indian banyan tree, forms aerial roots, which then take root in the ground. This is the sacred tree of India, which, according to legend, helped the Buddha achieve enlightenment. In nature, the plant is very large, but the more compact Adri variety is planted here. It has very beautiful foliage with light veins.
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Bulnesia treelike(Bulnesia arborea) from the parifolia family (Zygophyllaceae) - a relative of the rosewood tree. It also has valuable wood, in its homeland in Venezuela and Colombia it is called Maracaibo - Iron tree. The plant is semi-evergreen, with light green, paired leaves. The plant bears the name of General D. Manuel Bulnes, who was the president of Chile in the 19th century. In nature, the tree reaches 12 meters in height, incredibly spectacularly blooms almost all summer with golden-yellow flowers the size of a palm, which have an original structure - petals that are irregularly rounded in the upper part (there are 5 of them) are narrowed at the base so that they form a kind of wheel spokes. Flowers are single or several, each flower lives for 4 days. Very decorative and pear-shaped 5-chambered fruits 6-9 cm long, which hang on thin strings-stalks. A rare plant in botanical gardens, it grows slowly. In the "Tropical World" this plant already bloomed with several single flowers, but did not set fruit.
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Alocasia large rhizome (Alocasia macrorhiza) grows in the middle tier of the "Tropical World". A plant of the aroid family is native to Malaysia and Australia. The local population calls its large leaves elephant ears and uses instead of umbrellas from the rain, and the stems and tubers of varietal plants are eaten as a substitute for the well-known food tropical taro culture - edible taro (Colocasia esculenta).
Another view - alocasia Venti(Alocasia wentii) from Southeast Asia - interesting in that its juicy green leaves have a purple underside, with a metallic sheen, color.
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Carambola, or averroa carambola(Averrhoa carambola) - an evergreen tree from Southeast Asia and India, known for its yellow fruits called Stаrfruits (Star Fruit), but carambola Is the Spanish name for fruit. Ribbed sweet and sour fruits are cut across so that they get star-shaped pieces. They are used mainly for cocktails and desserts, seasonings, pickling, preserves. Botanically, the plant is surprising in that it belongs to the oxalis family, the affinity with which is emphasized by small pink bell-shaped flowers, and the leaves at the same time resemble a little acacia. Unfortunately, at the moment this beautiful specimen has been lost due to stem rot. Although the plant bloomed profusely and gave about 5 kg of fruit. The park plans to plant it again.
All about carambola - in the article Carambola - star fruit
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Curupita guiana(Couroupita guianensis) native to South America and South India. I have not met her in any European botanical garden. An evergreen tree with a powerful trunk and large textured lanceolate leaves from the lecithis family (Lecythidaceae)... It was named Guiana for its affinity with the Brazilian nut. It is interesting that the flowers of the plant are formed directly on the trunks, like those of a fig. They are waxy, fragrant, pink, red or orange in color. Then, in their place, large, 15-25 cm in diameter, fruits are tied, which ripen from 9 to 18 months, depending on the conditions. Ripe fruits fall off, breaking and exposing a jelly-like mass with many seeds, which, oxidizing in the air, turns blue and spreads an unpleasant odor. It is clear that they are not eaten. And for all good things they call cannonballs.In the "Tropical World" has not yet blossomed.
Alstonia Malabar(Alstonia scholaris) already rests against the ceiling of the greenhouse. This is a plant from Southeast Asia, which grows up to 40 m in nature. Narrow-obovate leathery leaves are arranged in beautiful whorls. The dense inflorescences of small white fragrant flowers are very attractive, but so far they have not been seen here. In India, it is called the Devil's tree because, like all members of the kutrovy family, it emits poisonous milky sap when damaged.
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Murraya paniculata (Murraya paniculata) - a well-known houseplant. Here you can see a giant specimen of this plant and you can only imagine how gorgeous it is in white bell-shaped flowers and healing fruits of different colors - from orange and lilac to red. This plant bloomed several times with a great aroma, but there was no fruit - unfortunately, Dutch-made murrayas usually do not bear fruit.
Papaya(Carica papaya) gave a hefty crop of fruits - she usually willingly bears fruit in greenhouses.
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There are many different types and varieties of philodendrons in Tropical World, but perhaps the most impressive of them is philodendron giant(Philodendron giganteum) the height of a person, with huge long-petiolized leaves.
Look luxurious and philodendrons of Xanadu(Philodendron xanadu) and the variety "Xantal" with very decorative, in varying degrees of rugged leaves.
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Interesting and rare philodendron - Philodendron goeldii Fun Bun - with twisted six-lobed leaves uncharacteristic for philodendrons, reminiscent of sauromatum.
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In the depths of the greenhouse there is a reservoir with a small waterfall. Climbing philodendron, round-leaved cissus, Vuagnier tetrastigma, golden epipremnum climb the stone walls. Nearby are the water-loving cyperus, widespread and alternate-leaved.
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Returning along another path, we admire the fatty specimens of bananas. Here, closer to the water, bamboos grow.
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Bamboo plural(Bambusa multiplex) also called the Chinese Divine Bamboo, it is of great practical importance in the Himalayas and South China. Fast growing, up to 4.5 m tall. Young stems that have not yet emerged from the ground are used in cooking, although they are slightly bitter and require preliminary preparation. The stems (up to 4 cm thick) are used to produce paper and cellulose. They are easily separated into fibers, which are used for weaving mats, baskets, etc.
Blue bamboo(Bambusa textilis) - dense bamboo from Burma and Thailand, at first with thorny stems and with rare dull, hard hairs on the leaves. In summer, stems up to 3 cm thick are bluish. An elegant plant that is used at home in weaving and construction.
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In conclusion, I would like to note that even in the best greenhouses in Europe I have rarely seen such healthy and well-groomed plants. As you can see, the Sparrow Park can amaze you in winter, not only in summer. Come, you will not regret it!
//www.birdspark.ru/
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We thank Tatiana Romanovna Belyavskaya for help in preparing the material.
