LILIES - RHS Lily Group

Geographic location
The territory of the lower reaches of the Khoper River (about 250 km north-west
of Volgograd) is part of the “Wild Field”. Of all the numerous rivers of the steppe
the Khoper River (in English it is also known as Choper) is especially beautiful,
flowing for 1,000 km through the five administrative regions of the European
part of Russia with the last hundred kilometres in the Kumilzhensky distrtict of
the Volgograd region, where it runs into the River Don near stanitsa (Cossack
village) Bukanovskaya and there are numerous lakes with water meadows
along its floodland. Geographically this territory belongs to the southern end of
Khoper-Buzuluk Plain – at the left side, and the southern part of Kalach Hills – at
the right side of the river. It was here that the Nizhnekhopersky Nature Park (in
English – The Lower Choper Nature Park), the largest in the Volgograd region,
was created in 2003: it covers an area of 231 206 hectares. The main aims of the
park are to promote the conservation of biodiversity, to help protect nature and
to develop scientific, touristic and ecologico-educational activity.
Climate
The territory is characterized by a continental, dry and warm climate, with a lack
of precipitation and a lot of sunny days with semi-desert condition in the south
east of the Volgograd region. The temperature of the soil surface in July may reach
+70° C, especially on sands. But local plants are well adapted, and they stand such
temperature. The winters can be as severe as in the middle belt of Russia, with
temperatures down to -30° C, but shorter. Even in late April /beginning of May there
may be late spring frosts which affect the seed productivity of plants and crops.
Soil types and general landscape
Soils are represented by southern black soils, that are often washed off the slopes,
at times with saline soils. In the more northern areas there are plots of common
black soils. Along the river valleys alluvial soils were formed, and the terraces are
made of sand with poor soils. The right side of Khoper and Buzuluk rivers consist
of chalk hills with denudations of pure chalk and carbonates. Khoper-Buzuluk
Lowland is characterized by plain watershed, wide valleys and vast floodlands
of rivers. Under the influence of water erosion the land surface is cut by many
ravines and gorges which prevented the complete ploughing up of virgin steppe
and ensured the survival of rare plants. In addition, these ravines protect local
species from dry and hot winds in summer and cold winds in winter. Hills of pure
sand (at times bare, at times overgrown) occupy a considerable part of territory.
The sand stretches across the water plain for many kilometres from the rivers
Kumilga and Khoper to the rivers Medveditsa and Don. Small groves of birch
(Betula pubescens) occur on this land creating a specific type of landscape.
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