Reykjavík Botanic Garden

• Icelandic Noon Strolls: Fridays, 12pm-12:30pm
• English Noon Strolls: Fridays, 12:40pm-1:10pm 
• Tuesday, August 15 at 8pm - Spurges 

Milk plants, or spurges, are one of Earth's most abundant plant families. Our guided tour will unpack the Botanic Garden's astonishing assortment of these versatile plants. 

• Wednesday, August 23 at 8pm - Curated Journey: The Impossible Garden

Galadriel González Romero, a multidisciplinary artist of Kenyan and Spanish descent, will lead an enlightening expedition through the Impossible Garden—a surreal landscape nested solely within Reykjavík's Botanic Garden.

During the walk, Galadriel will juxtapose flora in the Garden that should not thrive this far north with species that would flourish should Iceland's temperature elevate by just a single degree. Thus, the Impossible Garden questions climate change and changes the plants in it in relation to what seems unrealistic. During the walk we will share stories from the artist's book of folktales illustrated with cross stitch patterns of the plants.

Gather at the Botanic Garden's main entrance by 8pm on Wednesday, August 23.

The tour is offered in English and an Icelandic translation will be available.

Post-tour, join us in the Botanic Garden's gazebo for plant-based artisan teas and conversation.

Admission is complimentary and open to all!

• Tuesday, August 29 at 8pm - The Garden of Spells 

Uncover the mystical botanicals that might occupy a sorceress's sanctum. Our nocturnal promenade will scrutinize captivating flora that might hide in a magical garden and delve into the lore of potent herbal incantations. 

You can see the events at the Botanic Garden in 2023 in this document:

• Event schedule for the year 

Travelling exhibition on Crop Wild Relatives (CWR)

During the summers of 2022 and 2023, a travelling exhibition on crop wild relatives will travel around Iceland, funded by The Museum Council of Iceland. This exhibition is a joint Nordic collaboration with the Nordic Genetic Resource Centre (NordGen) and other Nordic institutions. The exhibition is in both Icelandic and English and will be in the Reykjavik Botanic Garden until June 6th 2022. Afterwards, it will travel the country and be at the Skagafjörður Heritage Museum in Glaumbær, Akureyri Botanic Garden, and in Vatnajökull National Park in Ásbyrgi.

Crop wild relatives are wild plant species that are ancestors or close relatives to cultivated crops. Unlike their domesticated relatives, they must survive wild in nature without human intervention. Climate change progression is putting increased pressure on agriculture. The changing environment requires new properties in modern crops to adapt them making the genetic diversity of crop wild relatives a crucial resource. Modern and future plant breeders can look to these wild varieties to find useful properties to breed new crop varieties.

In Iceland, the diversity of forage and berry plant species is particularly high, and you can find wheat relatives here along with meadow foxtail grass, blueberries, strawberries, and cummin.