Jan Böhm was called the King of Roses from Blatná. He bred over 120 varieties

Tribute to the Sun, Dark, Mouthpiece or Mary Magdónova. Jihočeské Slunce i Zlatý Dech, Jan Hus alongside Alois Jirásek and Rašín, Génius Mendel and Růže Olivetská, Vltava and Srdce Evropy.

At first glance, it seems that these are just randomly selected words from some patriotic syllable. But they are also the proper names of several of the many dozens of rose varieties bred during the First Republic and launched at the time by the world-famous grower Jan Böhm. Thanks to his success, he helped to make Blatná famous in the Strakonice region, which is still sometimes called the City of Roses.

Böhm spent a quarter of a century in it. He was an extremely determined man who dedicated his life to shrubs with beautiful flowers and thorns, and later became known as Bata in Roses. It was he who proved that when a good wind blew at a good time, the city smelled like a pink flower.

When he came to Blatná and started as a gardener, the other farmers laughed at him. He planted darts in his fields, which they laboriously got rid of.

“The city was definitely not considered an ideal area for growing roses. That is why Böhm initially wanted to buy some land in northern Bohemia. But he didn't have the money for them, so he came from Prague to Blatná, where he had land from his father. It was a rocky and barren field, where a rock often rose to the surface. But he fertilized them, and when the first successes came, he bought more, "says Taťána Fryštáková from the Blaten Museum, which manages Böhm's estate.

When Böhm came to Blatná, he was no stranger, although at first his actions aroused mischievous smiles on the faces of the gardeners there. He was born in 1888 into a family that has been gardening for generations, so he grew up among flowers. He received his apprenticeship from his father at the age of 17.

But he wanted to improve as much as possible in his profession. He gained further experience among growers in Dresden. He also learned the secrets of roses in Luxembourg and France and was preparing to start a business on his own when he returned home.

"But the First World War came, during which he found himself on both the Russian and Italian fronts. When he returned, his father offered him part of his land in Blatná. He soon found a girl there and in 1919 he married Maria Maříková from Hajan, where the Böhms lived for another five years. It was in 1919 that he started with two assistants on a two-hectare plot of land, where he planted five thousand rose plains, ”writes Jiří Sekera, a teacher in the Böhm Rose Blatná book.

He knew Michurin

Six years later, he bred his first rose, which he named Máňa Böhmová after his first-born daughter. At that time, it employed sixteen people, exported abroad for two years and grew roses on seven hectares of plantations. Since he was only growing one type of flower, he knew that the circle of his customers had to be as wide as possible.

"Among other things, he understood what advertising and marketing is great at the time. We have a number of catalogs, advertisements and postcards with rose motifs at the museum, which he published. He published extensively in various magazines, he was able to arouse in people the desire to have such roses in their garden. His slogan is needed: Where, for example, only a small garden, there must be a Czech fairy tale. This was another of his varieties, "explains Fryštáková.

In 1928 he bought a house built by the architect Jan Komanec. He moved to the villa with his family and the administration of his company was located there. After ten years, he already had 70 employees on plantations and 11 employees in the office, and his rosary was the largest company in Blatná.

The climate and other natural conditions, which at first seemed unsuitable, proved to be suitable for roses, and thanks to the higher altitude, the flowers are more resistant to pests and diseases. In addition, Böhm still invested the money he earned in expanding the company, purchasing technology and further promotion. He grew millions of plants in his fields and the plantations eventually had more than 30 hectares.

At the beginning of the 1930s, he no longer had a competitor in the Czech Republic, his plantations were among the largest even in comparison with European growers, and he became known as Baťa in Roses. He kept a lively contact with his colleagues and also offered sprouts from other breeders. For many years, for example, he also maintained correspondence with the well-known Ivan Michurin.

"We had the opportunity to talk to Böhm's granddaughter, who was still alive, who remembered for us how Böhm spent the Second World War. She said that he was trying to breed edible rose hips that would supply people with enough vitamin C. She had a vivid memory of how sour they were, ”says Petr Chlebec, a historian at the Blatno Museum.

It was Michurin who tried something similar in Russia, and in several cases the two breeders joined forces.

By 1950, Böhm had bred over 120 new varieties of roses, giving them poetic and often patriotic names. As a council of the patent court, he often legalized them and helped raise awareness of the roses of smaller growers. Many of his creations have won awards, including 14 gold medals, at a number of major exhibitions in Western Europe, further enhancing his fame.

Exhibitions and walks on plantations, which he organized directly in Blatná, were also extraordinary. For example, 25,000 people came to some of them. It was a huge advertisement for the city.

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He named some varieties after prominent First Republic politicians. The then Foreign Minister Edvard Beneš, for example, received his own variety from him on a visit to Blatná in August 1935. When President Masaryk died in 1937, Böhm sent 25,000 roses to Prague to welcome the funeral wreaths. A year later, the TGM rose was created

At the end of the 1930s, the grower planned to build a rosary, where all his varieties could be grown, regardless of the time of year. But the plans were interrupted by the war. And before the company could recover from its consequences, the year 1948 came and with it the end of business activities. In 1950, the company was expropriated and annexed to the municipal company Lidoslužby města Blatné. Böhm himself worked there only as a breeder.

Since then, however, he has bred only one rose, Tribute to the Sun in 1956. He died three years later, and his work and what he did for the city were gradually, partly certainly and purposefully forgotten.

None of his descendants became a professional gardener. Although roses continued to be grown in Blatná with various results, it was never possible to restore the glory, and after 1989, rose cultivation completely ceased to exist.

The arrow collects its varieties

At the same time, however, the gardener Miloslav Šíp moved to nearby Skaličany, who cultivates roses and tries to maintain as many varieties as possible, which Böhm bred.

"My father came from Skaličany and Böhm experienced it and considered him a huge role model. Later, Dad himself was considered the best nursery in Central Europe in the field of fruit trees and roses. Considering what I would do after the revolution, I decided to return here, based on Böhm's experience. I share his idea that work is the most important thing for a person and that the whole work needs to be done, otherwise it is priceless, “says Šíp.

Some of Böhm's roses are also on sale. Even though they still maintain their quality, only people who buy them precisely because of the awareness of the person of their grower are interested in them.

"I can't say exactly how many I have, I'm looking for them as best I can. They have the largest collection in Sangerhasen, Germany. Thanks to contacts through the Rosa club, they have been sending me eyes from here for two years now, so I was able to expand the range. I certainly won't be able to get all the varieties, but I'm happy for each one, "adds the grower.