Cactus discounts from Norrköping

Cactus discounts 2007.

The cactus discount is a planting in Karl-Johann-Park in the center of Norrköping . Surrounded by a semi-arch of agaves and pillar-like cacti of the genus Cereus , smaller cacti form a motif with a current reference. This motif is, for example, a coat of arms , a company logo , a monogram or a figure.

history

Cactus discounts in the early 1930s

Cactus discounts 1936.

Originally there was a public square on the site with a statue of King Karl XIV Johann , who gave the square the name Karl-Johann-Platz. In 1887, John Philipson, a wholesaler and head of the city administration, suggested replacing the paved square with a park. Philipson bore the cost of the redesign, which was carried out according to the plans of the architect Carl Theodor Malm . The park received lawns, symmetrically oriented paths, exotic trees and plant borders. The borders around the statue consisted of roof houseleek , sedum and echeveria . To the south of the statue, flowers recreated the old coat of arms of Norrköping . This motif was later temporarily moved to another location in the park.

When the city had successfully grown exotic plants such as magnificent lilies , palms , dragon trees , echeverias and cacti in a greenhouse near the Ståthöga manor, the desire to show something similar in Karl-Johann-Park arose. The discounts in the park have increased again and again over time, for example, the builder Anders Carlsson donated a large number of cacti in 1908. In 1912 a larger greenhouse was built to store the plants in the winter months. After further acquisitions and donations, the motif planting in the park was a pure cactus discount from the mid-1920s. The number of summer flowers decreased continuously and after 1925 they disappeared completely from the border. The city's master gardener created a plan drawing for 1926. He placed a garland of five to six rotundas or “pies” around the central motif.

The motif in the center was again the old city coat of arms from 1928 to 1934 and from 1935 the cacti formed fantasy patterns for the next three years. With the motif from 1938, Norrköping congratulated King Gustav V on his 80th birthday, here echeveria and roof houseleek formed the monogram of the head of state. The discounts with current reference were very well received by the population, so that the patterns were now changed annually and honored different anniversaries and occasions.

Growths

Specimens from the genera Echinocactus and Echeveria .

A large assortment of cacti is used for the cactus discounts, a total of 5000 to 6000 plants, which are supplemented by plenty of thick-leafed plants. The basic structure of the plantation has not changed significantly since the 1920s. The surrounding garland is about one meter wide and 22 meters long.

The number of all plants used is a good 25,000. Flat floor mats are usually made from cobweb houseleek . Here about 250 rosettes are needed for one square decimeter. A ruby-colored variant of the roof houseleek is more likely to be used for red surfaces . Bluish specimens from the genus Echeveria make another color variant possible. The colors yellow and brown are created through the use of different species of the genus Mammillaria . When marking lines, Echeveria elegans is used, which hardly changes even over very long periods of time.

In the past, Opuntia ficus-indica were often used, but since 1966 these have mainly been replaced by Echinocactus grusonii . In the garlands there are cacti of the genus Cereus , such as Cereus jamacaru or Cereus peruvianus and between them some Canary Spurge specimens . The rotunda of the garlands consist mainly of cacti of the genus Echinocactus . White-haired cacti such as Cephalocereus senilis are used for greater variation .

Agaves such as Agave americana and Agave marginata grow around the garland . These are only used in the planting when they are 40–50 years old and bloom. Other plants used are hawworthia and aloes .

maintenance

Cactus discounts 2006.

With the cactus discounts, Norrköping now wants to draw attention to local peculiarities, as well as to honor national or international anniversaries. The municipal gardener suggests the motif for the next year and also takes into account the potential advertising effect for the city and what is possible with the existing plant material. The municipality's technical board of directors advises and ultimately decides on the proposal. Many local companies were drawn to the attention of many resident companies with the cactus discounts, but the companies do not pay a contribution. Suggestions that have not been implemented are sometimes implemented with a motif in another Norrköping park.

After the motif has been determined, it is drawn in natural size on cardboard discs. For the central theme, a circular template is made that is filled with earth and into which a mat made of cobweb houseleek is planted at the beginning of May. As soon as these plants form a closed unit, cut out the fields and lines that are to be filled with other plants. Until the end of May, winter and spring plants can still be found on the place of the borders, which are then removed. The vacant places in the garland and in the back of the border are then planted with cacti and echeveria. The stencil will be removed at the beginning of June. After that, only minor corrections are necessary. An information sign provides more precise data on the subject.

In summer, the usual maintenance work is required, such as removing weeds and replacing withered or dead plants. Irrigation is not necessary and fertilizer is not needed.

In the first week of October the plants are collected and stored in the greenhouse. The plants are kept dry at around 10 ° C so that they stay fresh until the next summer. The roof houseleek plants survive storage outdoors. The root ball is removed from around 4000 to 5000 Echeveria elegans and the leaf rosette is stored in a cool place. In February or March, new root strands have formed, so that temporary planting in moist soil is possible. This process can be repeated annually and some of the echeveria have been there since the cactus discounts were established.

Around 1700 working hours are spent on maintaining the cactus discounts.

Theft of plants has turned out to be a minor problem. Since 1980 there has been a 1 m high fence around the borders to prevent impulse theft.

Motives of the discounts

1926 - arabesques 1927 - arabesques 1928 - Norrköping's old city arms 1929 - Norrköping's old city arms 1930 - Norrköping's old city arms 1931 - Norrköping's old city arms 1932 - Norrköping's old city arms 1933 - Norrköping's old city arms 1934 - Norrköping's old city arms 1935 - arabesques 1936 - arabesques 1937 - arabesques 1938 - 80th birthday of Gustav V. 1939 - 100th anniversary of Pehr Henrik Ling's death 1940 - National Defense Financing 1941 - Small Reich coat of arms 1942 - Small Reich coat of arms 1943 - 85th birthday of Gustav V. 1944 - 75 years of the Norrköping Rifle Guild 1945 - Norrköping military air fleet 1946 - Norrköpings new city arms with Olav the saint 1947 - 50 years of IFK Norrköping 1948 - 90th birthday of Gustav V. 1949 - 50 years of the construction workers' union 1950 - 75 years of the municipal fire service 1951 - 100 years of the municipal gas works 1952 - 100 years of urban cotton weaving 1953 - 50 years of IK Sleipner 1954 - 100 years of textile and paper company Holmens Bruk (subsidiary of Holmen AB ) 1955 - 50 years of the Folkbladet newspaper 1956 - 100 years of the state railway company 1957 - 100 years of Eberstein High School 1958 - 200 years of the Norrköpings Tidningar newspaper 1959 - 50 years of Norrköpings general sports association 1960 - 100 years of the Arbis workers' union 1961 - 50 years of AB Manus 1962 - The Lindö Canal opens 1963 - Saint Olav 1964 - Exhibition NU 64 1965 - Norrköping, the city of flowers 1966 - 100 years of the railway in Norrköping 1967 - Changeover to right-hand traffic 1968 - Meeting of the Swedish caravan club i Norrköping

1969 - 50 years of the local section of the Workers' Education Association (ABF) 1970 - European Year for Nature Conservation 1971 - 50 years of central organization of the trade union in Norrköping 1972 - 75 years of IFK Norrköping 1973 - 75 years of country organizations 1974 - 75 years of Kooperativa Förbundet 1975 - Saint Olav 1976 - Small Reich coat of arms - state authorities move to Norrköping 1977 - 75 years of the sailing club at Bråviken 1978 - 100 years of Norrköpings gymnastics club 1979 - 75 years of the Norrköping tram 1980 - 70 years of the Swedish municipal union 1981 - International Year of the Disabled 1982 - 75 years of the Swedish Scout Association 1983 - 225 years of Norrköpings Tidningar 1984 - 600 years of Norrköping 1985 - 100 years of abstinence movement in Norrköping 1986 - 350 years of the Swedish Post 1987 - 100 years of the Svea chocolate factory 1988 - 100 years of Norrköping's polytechnic association 1989 - 100 years of the Swedish Social Democratic Labor Party 1990 - 200 years of craftsmanship in Norrköping 1991 - 350 years Society of Skippers 1992 - 100 years of the association for the promotion of outdoor activities 1993 - 350 years of the nautical chart authority 1994 - 100 years of Norrköpings builders' association 1995 - 50 years of the United Nations 1996 - 75 years of tenants' association in Norrköping 1997 - 100 years of IFK Norrköping 1998 - 100 years of country organizations in Norrköping 1999 - 200 years of J. Ringborg Aktiengesellschaft 2000 - 200th anniversary of the coronation of Gustav IV Adolf in Norrköping 2001 - 100 years of the Swedish Philatelic Association in Norrköping 2002 - 100 years of training in childcare in Norrköping 2003 - 100 years of IK Sleipner 2004 - 100 years of the Norrköping tram 2005 - 100 years of Folkbladet 2006 - 100th anniversary of the Norrköping Art and Industry Exhibition 2007 - 100 years of Norrköpings Hafen 2008 - 250 years of Norrköpings Tidningar 2009 - 400 years of Holmen AB 2010 - 100 years of Norrköping Town Hall 2011 - 75 years of SKTF 2012 - 100 years of Norrköpings symfoniorkester

swell

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Boo Andersson (September 28, 2004). " Cactus groups 1941 ( Memento of the original from March 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. " Norrköpings Tidningar. 

literature

• Hellerström, Stig; Hellerström Stig: Norrköpings parker. 2, Cactus groups in Norrköping och några andra svenska motivrabatter, Park och naturkontoret , Norrköping 1996. ISBN 91-630-4598-2

Web links

Commons : Cactus discounts from Norrköping  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Upplev Norrköping Kaktusplanteringen (Swedish)
• Norrköping Municipality Kaktusplanteringen (Swedish)
• Norrköping Municipality Motives for the cactus discounts over the years

Coordinates: 58 ° 35 ′ 39.5 ″  N , 16 ° 11 ′ 3.3 ″  E