从苗圃起步到省立树木园
比利时 Kalmthout 树木园 Arboretum Kalmthout 位于比利时北部安特卫普省 Kalmthout 镇，靠近荷兰边境，距安特卫普市中心约二十五公里，距布雷达约三十公里，是比利时唯一以观赏树木和花灌木为主的省立植物园。其前身是一家私人苗圃，1856 年由当时在安特卫普城内经营苗圃生意的 Charles Van Geert 在此购置土地并设立，主要为测试从远东和北美引入的针叶树和观赏植物在低地沙土上的越冬表现。最早种下的几株雪松、铁杉和云杉至今仍站立在 Coniferendreef（针叶树大道）两侧，已逾一百五十年。园中现存最古老的一批乔木就是在那个时期定植的。
家族经营、植物收藏与国际声誉
Van Geert 1896 年去世后，苗圃改组为 Société Anonyme Horticole de Calmpthout（俗称 Den Horticole），由农艺师 Antoine Kort 接手；1952 年，安特卫普钻石商兼业余植物学家 Georges 和 Robert De Belder 两兄弟从 Den Horticole 手中购入这片土地及紧邻的 8.5 公顷苗圃，合计面积约 12.5 公顷，包括 Van Geert 当年称为「我的小树木园」的私人收藏区和 Vangeertenhof 后花园。1954 年，斯洛文尼亚农业工程师 Jelena Kovačič 翻越园区围墙来寻找一株特别的树木，并在数月后与 Robert 结婚，与他一同将苗圃改造成一座以自然式种植为主的私人树木园：放弃传统植物园按科属分畦的种植方式，改用乔木、灌木、藤本和多年生草花相互搭配的花园式布局。De Belder 夫妇还促成 1952 年国际树木学会（International Dendrology Society, IDS）在园中成立，并先后从欧洲、北美和东亚引入大量 Hamamelis（金缕梅）、Prunus（樱花）、Malus（海棠）、Pieris（马醉木）和 Hydrangea（绣球）的新种与新品种，使园区成为这些观赏属的世界级收藏地。1986 年 Robert 去世后，园区转由家族基金会和安特卫普省政府共同管理。
省属公共园区与系统化收藏
2000 年，年轻景观建筑师 Abraham Rammeloo 出任园区主任与首席管理员，将园区定位明确为「以观赏园艺为基础的科学树木园」，系统整理植物收藏目录，建立跨园区的引种档案和数据库，并扩展对外开放天数和导览团队规模。2013 年，原管理主体 vzw Arboretum Kalmthout 改组为安特卫普省政府的外部自治机构（extern verzelfstandigd agentschap，简称 EVAP），保留独立运营的灵活性，同时获得省政府的稳定财政支持。2020 年底，园区与省政府共同购入紧邻的 Tuin van Sonia 一公顷土地，使总面积扩展至今日的 13.5 公顷；同年完成 Vangeertenhof 主楼翻修，重新用作接待、展览和小型活动场地。园区现有植物逾 11000 种（含品种），以 Hamamelis、Prunus、Malus、Pieris、Hydrangea 和 Rhododendron（杜鹃）六个观赏属为收藏重点，多个属的母株仍在原址生长，其中 Hamamelis × intermedia ‘Ruby Glow’ 是 1930 年代由 De Belder 家族选育的世界上第一个红色花金缕梅品种。
金缕梅节、研究协作与国际认证
每年一月底到二月底，园区举办金缕梅节（Toverhazelaars bloeien），在 1.5 公里长的标识步道上集中展示数百株正值盛花期的金缕梅和冬花植物，并每日下午两点安排一名导览员带队讲解；同时举行 Miss Hamamelis 评选，鼓励公众带自家金缕梅切枝参赛。园区同时参与多项国际植物保护和研究协作：是国际植物园保护联盟（BGCI）成员、比利时树木园协会（VBTA）成员、IDS 国际树木学会诞生地，并参与国际槭树保护项目、国际杜鹃花保护项目和国际山茶品种登录。园区自 2015 年起连续三次通过美国 Morton 树木园 ArbNet 认证计划的 Level III 评审（2015、2020、2025），并于 2025 年获得英国皇家园艺学会（RHS）伙伴花园称号；同年全国记录其累计访客突破一百万。安特卫普省议员 Mireille Colson 主管本省休闲绿地事务，对园区的发展方向负有政治责任。
位置、交通与访客服务
园区位于比利时安特卫普省 Kalmthout 镇，紧邻 Kalmthout 火车站，距镇中心步行十分钟；电话与对外联系渠道以官方页面公示为准。每天上午十点至下午五点向公众开放（部分节假日调整）。园区设有免费硬化停车场，每天上午十点至下午五点提供导览服务（建议提前十天预订，标准导览每人 57 欧元含 25 人以内团队，另收入园门票）；园中设植物中心出售植物和园艺用品，附设 Miss Hamamelis Gin 和 Arboretum 手工皂等本地合作产品。园方提供蓝、绿、铜、银、金五档年卡，蓝卡 30 欧元供两人使用全年，绿卡 1+3 同行 60 欧元供四人；持有年卡者可享 Hamamelis 合作伙伴网络 Plantentuin Meise、Hortus Botanicus Leiden、Bokrijk 开放博物馆等地的入园优惠。具体票价、活动日程和年卡条款以官方页面公布为准。
From Private Nursery to Provincial Botanic Garden
Arboretum Kalmthout lies in the northern Belgian municipality of Kalmthout, in the province of Antwerpen, close to the Dutch border and roughly twenty-five kilometres from Antwerp city centre. It is the only provincial garden in Belgium devoted primarily to ornamental trees and flowering shrubs. The site began as a private nursery founded in 1856 by Charles Van Geert, an Antwerp-based plantsman who bought the land to test newly introduced conifers and ornamental shrubs from East Asia and North America on the local sandy soil. The oldest conifers in the present Coniferendreef, planted by Van Geert himself, have stood for more than a hundred and fifty years and still mark the original axis of the nursery.
Family Stewardship, Plant Collections and International Reputation
After Van Geert’s death in 1896 the nursery was reorganised as the Société Anonyme Horticole de Calmpthout, popularly known as Den Horticole, under the agricultural engineer Antoine Kort. In 1952 the Antwerp diamond merchants and keen amateur dendrologists Georges and Robert De Belder bought the business together with the adjoining 8.5-hectare nursery grounds, bringing the estate to roughly 12.5 hectares, including Van Geert’s private ‘arboretum’ plot and the Vangeertenhof kitchen garden behind it. In 1954 the Slovenian agricultural engineer Jelena Kovačič climbed the boundary fence in search of a particular tree, met the brothers and married Robert a few months later. Together they transformed the formal nursery into a naturalistic arboretum, abandoning the strict family-and-genus rows of a classical botanic garden in favour of mixed plantings of trees, shrubs, climbers and perennials. The De Belders also initiated the founding of the International Dendrology Society (IDS) on the property in 1952 and assembled the first large collections of Hamamelis, Prunus, Malus, Pieris and Hydrangea at the site, introducing many new cultivars selected from wild-collected seed from East Asia, North America and Europe. Following Robert’s death in 1986 the garden passed into a family foundation and the province of Antwerpen.
Provincial Public Garden and Systematic Collections
In 2000 the young landscape architect Abraham Rammeloo took over as director and curator, formalising the garden’s role as a scientific arboretum based on ornamental horticulture. He rebuilt the plant records, established a documentation database, expanded the opening days and built a permanent guide team. In 2013 the operating body, the not-for-profit vzw Arboretum Kalmthout, was converted into an externally autonomous agency (extern verzelfstandigd agentschap, EVAP) of the province of Antwerpen, combining stable provincial funding with operational independence. In late 2020 the province and the arboretum jointly acquired the neighbouring Tuin van Sonia, a one-hectare garden, and the total area grew to today’s 13.5 hectares; the same year the renovated Vangeertenhof manor was reopened for receptions, exhibitions and small events. The garden currently grows more than 11,000 different plants, with specialist reference collections of Hamamelis, Prunus, Malus, Pieris, Hydrangea and Rhododendron; mother plants of historically important introductions, including the world’s first red-flowered witch-hazel cultivar Hamamelis × intermedia ‘Ruby Glow’, raised by the De Belders in the 1930s, are still grown on site.
Witch-Hazel Festival, Research Links and International Recognition
From late January to late February the garden holds its annual Witch-Hazel Festival (Toverhazelaars bloeien), with a 1.5-kilometre marked trail through the best flowering specimens and a daily guided walk at 14:00; the programme also includes the Miss Hamamelis competition, in which visitors can enter a cut branch of their own witch-hazel. The arboretum is a member of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), of the Flemish Botanic Gardens Association (VBTA) and the founding site of the IDS; it takes part in international conservation projects for maples, rhododendrons and camellias, including cultivar registration. The garden has held the ArbNet Level III accreditation of the Morton Arboretum since 2015, with successful renewals in 2020 and 2025; in 2025 it was also named a partner garden of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). Mireille Colson, a member of the provincial council, is the politician responsible for recreation and green domains in the province and oversees the garden’s strategic direction.
Location, Access and Visitor Services
The garden stands in the municipality of Kalmthout, in the province of Antwerpen, next to Kalmthout railway station and a ten-minute walk from the village centre; official telephone and email are listed on the garden’s website. It is open to the public every day from 10:00 to 17:00 (with seasonal adjustments on public holidays). A free hardened car park is provided on site. Guided walks are offered every day and should be booked at least ten days in advance (57 euros per group of up to 25, plus entrance tickets); the on-site plant centre sells shrubs and gardening goods, as well as Miss Hamamelis gin and Arboretum soap produced with local partners. Annual membership is sold in blue (30 euros for two cardholders), green 1+3 (60 euros for four visitors), bronze, silver and gold tiers, with reciprocal or discounted admission at partner gardens including Plantentuin Meise, Hortus Botanicus Leiden and the Openluchtmuseum Bokrijk. Current ticket prices, events and membership terms are published on the official website.
发表回复