Saplings in Instrument Cases
When Penderecki founded his arboretum in the 1970s and 80s, the tree saplings he received from his acquaintances in other countries, such as the Soviet Union, could not always be legally imported into Poland. He therefore hid them in bouquets or in instrument cases. For some trips he would forget to pack the clothes, but he would never have left the plants behind. When the Polish borders were opened, more and more trees arrived from nurseries in vans or even in TIR lorries. The latter was the case with the sizeable northern red oak (Quercus robur), which was the German President’s gift for his 85th birthday.