Flowery Nuuk

This is a taste of flowers in Nuuk. Many people do not think we have a lot of flowers in the arctic. We do! And that is the reason I am only showing a few of them. 

Niviarsiaq, which means “young girl”, is the name of Greenland´s national flower, and you can find it almost everywhere you go when you visit Nuuk during the summer season. Among dandelion, you can find this colorful arctic beauty. 

Wild yellow puppy will always bring more color to our neighborhood! 

Admire the fragile light blue harebell (campanula rotundifolia) if you find it next to the rocks! 

The next flower is always easy to find and get fascinated by, just because of its appearance. Arctic cotton grass makes the landscape look softer, and when the rain comes and the wind is strong, they get combed by the air and remain the shape for several days until the heat makes them fluffy again.

Now we have the arctic poppy, quite famous in the arctic. You can find these flowers in yellow, orange and white colors, surviving until the snow starts hiding them. 

Greenland also has a nice time for the Lupin Blooming season, and it is nice to find them not only in the streets, but in the graveyards, bringing life and color to the Greenlandic cemeteries. 

The next flower is better known as “knotweed” or “knotgrass”, also as “alpine bistort”. Ptarmigans and reindeers eat these particular flowers, such as people eat its root, which has a similar taste as chestnuts; and it also has strong health benefits.

The dandelion flower will be everywhere in Greenland as long as the snow let it bloom at the beginning of the summer. 

The last one is not a flower but the most colorful vegetation contrasting with the turquoise crumbs of icebergs sunbathing while approaching the shore, next to Kapisillit. 

Read more travel blogs from Gabriela Zendejas Maldonado

Gabriela Zendejas Maldonado

I am a Mexican lady, an arctic traveler, guiding also in Svalbard, organising trips in Lapland, and supporting travellers on their first arctic experience. I share all my blinks on Instagram: @mascabada

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