Rogow Arboretum

The Rogow arboretum belongs to the Warsaw University of Life Sciences and was begun in 1923, and its purpose is research rather than display - which is why it holds something in the order of two thousand species and varieties of trees and shrubs across fifty-odd hectares, and why alongside the collection there are experimental plots where the same species have been grown side by side under identical conditions since the 1920s to see which do well in Polish forestry. Those plots are of real scientific value and are still yielding data. For a visitor the collection is the thing: a large maple and oak holding that colours strongly in October, magnolias and rhododendrons in May, an alpinarium, and a conifer section. The arboretum also has a forest experimental station and a small museum. It is off the main visitor routes, on the railway between Lodz and Warsaw, and is used mostly by Polish plant people.

What you actually see

• Two thousand woody species - a research collection rather than an ornamental garden.
• Century-old trial plots - the same species grown side by side since the 1920s.
• Maples and oaks in October - a large holding that colours strongly in autumn.
• An alpinarium - alongside conifers, magnolias and rhododendrons.

When to go

May to June for flowering; October for colour. Half a day.

Honest expectations

It is a scientific collection - labelling is botanical and there is little interpretation for general visitors. Entry is charged and opening is seasonal. It is rural with limited facilities. Outside the two peak periods it is quiet.

Nearby

Rogow station is on the Lodz-Warsaw line; the Skierniewice area is north.