THE SAULESKALNI DENDROLOGICAL GARDEN

The author Voldemārs Sauleskalns began to establish the Sauleskalni arboretum in 1945, and he spent his whole life collecting new plants.  They were planted in a documented way, and some of the markings are in Latvian.  The collection mostly features decorative plants, but there are also fruit trees and herbs.  Of interest are eight types of mountain-ash, five types of apples trees, including a few well-known types, as well as sour cherry trees.  Visitors can tour a grape veranda where they can inspect cornelian cherries, a true quince, an old stand of shadbushes, a red-leaf plum tree, three types of hawthorn, a Manchurian nut tree, roses, red-leaf linden trees, decorative raspberry plants and asparagus.  There are also a number of very uncommon plants.  The stand of red oaks trees was planted in honour of the 90th birthday of actor Ēvalds Valters.  There are also beds of winter plants, and at the gates is a noble willow tree that has bent to the ground.