Kola and Sibiria

Kirovsk friendship garden

The garden of Kirovsk in Apatity on the Kola Peninsula was the site of the worlds northernmost botanic garden until the Arctic-alpine Botanic garden at the University of Tromsø opened in 1994. Plants donated to Tromsø from Kirovsk are found here. These belong in the Kola Peninsula, the Altai mountains and Caucasus. Examples are Aquilegia glandulosa var. jucunda, Fritillaria meleagris and Helianthemum nummularium ssp. arctica, as well as the silky pink, Dianthus superbus (which is also found in the north-easternmost part of Norway). Some tall plants from the Kamtchatka peninsula are also found her, including Filipendula camtchatica and Aconogonum weyrichii.

Calliantiemum angustifolium

Erythronium sibiricum

Scilla rosenii

In the part of the Kirovsk collection adjoining the Rhododendron valley there are some exquisite bulbous plants from these north-east regions: Erythronium sibiricum, Scilla rosenii and Fritillaria camtchatcensis, the two former plants flowering just after the snow has melted at the end of May and in early June. Another beautiful plant here is Callianthemum angustifolium.