Heritage plants in museum environment - three museum gardens in south western Finland

Heritage plants are not commonly presented to visitors in museum gardens. In many cases, there is not much knowledge of the plants. For example, there is lack of knowledge of their cultivation history or variety names. In the pilot museum gardens we combine gathered knowledge (e.g. plant identification data to cultivation history) and utilize it in designing demonstration material for presenting heritage plants, their histories and their potential for present and future use. Demonstration material includes exhibitions, thematic and drama guidance, www-pages, brochures, maps, signs for individual plants or parts of the garden. 18 Heritage plants maintained and demonstrated in museum gardens enable to mediate information of plant genetic resources to visitors through different senses: touching, tasting and smelling and with visual perception. Information received from different angles and with concrete ways may help visitors to better understand the value of plant genetic resources. The abstract concept of agrobiodiversity can became more tangible to laypersons and they can make their own thoughts on agrobiodiversity