Welcome to Saturday Morning Garden Blogging!
In June 2022 Mr M and I resumed post-covid International travel with a small ship circumnavigation of Iceland. In an earlier diary I shared photos from the Reykjavík Botanical Garden on the southern end of the island. To my delight, there was another botanical garden to visit at the north end of the island!
Iceland is a European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, about halfway between Norway and Greenland. Most of Iceland is just south of the Arctic Circle, though the tiny island of Grimsey is within the limits of the Arctic Circle.
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The Akureyri Botanical Garden is on top of a hill overlooking the town. We walked from the port where our boat was docked, through the town, finally reaching the garden itself. It was worth the walk.
The Akureyri Botanical Garden (Icelandic: Lystigarður Akureyrar [ˈlɪstiˌkarðʏr ˈaːkʏrˌeiːrar̥], regionally also [-ˈaːkʰʏr-]) is located on the west side of the inland end of the fjord Eyjafjörður at about 45 metres elevation. It is located in the southern part of the city of Akureyri in Northern Iceland, 50 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle.[1] It is one of the northernmost botanical gardens in the world.[2]
In 1910, women from Akureyri founded the Park Association to beautify their city. The previous year the city had given them a hectare of land. The garden, the first public park in Iceland, was headed until 1953 by the Park Society. During this time the garden area increased to 3.6 hectares. Besides being a place of peace and tranquility the garden is a place for scientific research. It has proven that shrubs, trees and other plants can survive on the edge of the Arctic. Besides arctic plants, those from the temperate zones and high mountains are grown. Icelandic plants are represented by about 400 species in the southeastern corner of the garden. By the end of 2007, there were about 7000 species.
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The paths wound through beautifully maintained plantings.
How can these gardens thrive so close to the Arctic Circle?
Iceland enjoys a much milder climate than its name and location adjacent to the Arctic circle would imply. A branch of the Gulf Stream flows along the southern and the western coast greatly moderating the climate. However, this brings mild Atlantic air in contact with colder Arctic air resulting in a climate that is marked by frequent changes in weather and storminess. Furthermore this leads to more rainfall in the southern and western part than in the northern part of the island.
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Another reason for the beautiful summer blooms: 20 to 22 hours of daylight in June!
Some other sights in north and east Iceland:
Back in SW Michigan we’ve had a week of abnormally high temperatures 70s-80s (20f above average). Plants are budding and blooming.
Daffodils and Primrose are still blooming. I dug extraneous Catnip to give to my sister (she has 6 cats, I only have 2). We expanded the vegetable garden on Thursday and I got to use the wood chips that Mr M is supplying with his new chipper!
What’s happening in your garden? Do you remember an outstanding botanical garden that you’ve visited? Or is there a garden that you’ve always wanted to visit?
My son and small grandsons are here to rebuild my grape arbor, so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to respond to comments very much. They drive about 4 hours from the upper part of the lower peninsula to visit us. Then my Mother’s 91st birthday is Sunday, so I’ll be at a party. I have full confidence that the gardening conversation will go on without me!