The Arctic–Alpine Botanic Garden (''Arktisk alpin Botanisk hage'') is the world's northernmost

botanic garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

. It is located in

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, and is run by the Tromsø University Museum. It opened in 1994. The garden displays Arctic and alpine plants from all over the

northern hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

. The garden is located to the southeast of the University of Tromsø Campus, commanding a view of the mountains to the east and south. There is no gate or barrier: there is no entrance fee, and the garden is open all day all night the year round. The location, corresponding to the north coast of

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, invites thought of an extreme

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

climate. However, a branch of the

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...

sweeping up the coast of North Norway provides a moderating influence, and the climate of Tromsø is one of relatively mild winters (January average ) and cool summers (July average ). The season in the Botanic Garden is usually from end of May until mid October. From May 15 until July 27, the sun is continuously above the horizon in Tromsø. This period of

midnight sun Midnight sun, also known as polar day, is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When midnight sun is see ...

provide some compensation to the plants for the short growing season and the low temperatures, providing an average of 200 hours of actual sunshine each of the months May, June, and July. From November 21 until January 17 the sun never rises. Snow generally covers the ground from October or November on, and will accumulate until the beginning of April. Snow then gradually melts and the ground will usually be bare around mid May at sea level, while lingering on far into the summer at higher altitudes. Special Collections: Rhododendron (e.g. R. Lapponicum),

Meconopsis ''Meconopsis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the poppy family Papaveraceae. It was created by French botanist Louis Guillaume Alexandre Viguier, Viguier in 1814 for the species known by the common name Welsh poppy, which Carl Linnaeus had de ...

Aster Aster or ASTER may refer to: Biology * ''Aster'' (genus), a genus of flowering plants ** List of ''Aster'' synonyms, other genera formerly included in ''Aster'' and still called asters in English * Aster (cell biology), a cellular structure shap ...

Polemonium ''Polemonium'', commonly called Jacob's ladders or Jacob's-ladders (the name derived from the Biblical story), is a genus of between 25 and 40 species of flowering plants in the family Polemoniaceae, native to cool temperate to arctic regions ...

Erigeron ''Erigeron'' () is a large genus of plants in the composite family (Asteraceae). It is placed in the tribe Astereae and is closely related to the Old World asters (''Aster (genus), Aster'') and the true daisies (''Bellis''). The genus has a cosm ...

Codonopsis ''Codonopsis'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Campanulaceae. As currently recognized, ''Codonopsis'' includes two other groups sometimes separated as distinct genera, i.e. ''Campanumoea'' and ''Leptocodon.'' The enlarged genus ''Codo ...

, Rose Cultivars,

Allium ''Allium'' is a large genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants with around 1000 accepted species, making ''Allium'' the largest genus in the family Amaryllidaceae and among the largest plant genera in the world. Many of the species are edible, ...

Saxifraga ''Saxifraga'' is the largest genus in the family Saxifragaceae, containing about 473 species of holarctic perennial plants, known as saxifrages or rockfoils. The Latin word ''saxifraga'' means literally "stone-breaker", from Latin ' ("rock" or " ...

Silene ''Silene'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. Containing nearly 900 species, it is the largest genus in the family. Common names include campion and catchfly. Many ''Silene'' species are widely distributed, particularl ...

, Tellima, Heu

In popular culture

As part of his Around the World in 80 Gardens BBC television series, British horticulturist

Monty Don Montagu Denis Wyatt Don (born George Montagu Don; 8 July 1955) is an English horticulturist, broadcaster, and writer who is best known as the lead presenter of the BBC gardening television series '' Gardeners' World''. Born in Germany and rai ...

visited the garden, talking to curator

Arve Elvebakk Arve Elvebakk (born 1951) is a Norwegian mycologist and professor working from the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø. He has published widely on Arctic biology, and climatology. Additionally, he collaborates with many mycologists across t ...

and botanist Brynhild Mørkved.https://www.itromso.no/nyheter/article143375.ece (In Norwegian)

References

External links

homepage in EnglishHumanflowerproject: About Tromsø arctic alpine gardenOn top of the world: the alpine garden thriving in the Arctic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arctic-Alpine Botanic Garden Botanical gardens in Norway Museums in Troms Arctic research

Botanical Garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

Buildings and structures completed in 1994