This spring my family and I bought a summer cottage in the countryside of Northern Ostrobothnia. The ground was still covered in snow and we had no idea all the things that grew in our plot. It was exciting to wait for the snow to melt and discover what grows in our plot. I felt like little Mary from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett; her insatiable curiosity that made it almost impossible to stay away from the little garden was the same I felt for our plot.
Our cottage is an old bakery that was built in the year 1900. The house had so much history and luckily the people who’ve lived in it valued that history and showed respect for it when renovating the place. I had the same question about the plot. I call it plot because until this point I was even sure, can it be called a garden. Being this a plot where people had lived for more than a century, could it be that also the perennial plants and flowers they planted along the way could still be found when the first rays of spring light would hit the ground and melt the snow?
This is when I started to value the role of perennial plants and flowers.
Did you know?
The term perennial is used for every plant that lives more than two years, therefore including also bushes, shrubs and trees.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary explains it well when it says: “Nowadays when we talk about “perennial plants,” or simply “perennials” (perennial can be a noun, too), we mean plants that die back seasonally but produce new growth in the spring. But originally perennial was equivalent to evergreen, used for plants that remain with us all year.”
Turns out, our plot was indeed more than just a plot, but an actual garden, thriving with every sort of perennial plant and flower and that’s how I got the idea of Nordic Perennials.
Nordic Perennials is photography project that was by no means intended to be an extensive documentation on all the perennial plants that grow in the Nordic countries, rather it is meant as documenting a slice of history of a Nordic garden.
I hope you enjoy the following photos. Every perennial is paired with their common name in English and Finnish plus their botanical Latin names.

REDCURRANT
In Finnish: punaherukka / punaviinimarja
Family: Grossulariaceae
Genus: Ribes
Species: R. rubrum

BLACKCURRANT
In Finnish: mustaherukka / mustaviinimarja
Family: Grossulariaceae
Genus: Ribes
Species: R. nigrum

RASPBERRY
In Finnish: vadelma
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Rubus
Species: R. idaeus
Did you know that raspberries belong to the rose family?

BILBERRY – WILD BLUEBERY
In Finnish: mustikka
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Vaccinium
Species: V. myrtillus

LINGONBERRY
In Finnish: puolukka
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Vaccinium
Species: V. vitis-idaea

RHUBARB
Family: Polygonaceae
Genus: Rheum
Species: R. × hybridum

DANDELION
In Finnish: voikukka
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Taraxacum
Species: T. officinale

common hepatica
In Finnish: sinivuokko
Family: Ranunculaceae
Genus: Anemone
Species: A. hepatica

ARCTIC STARFLOWER
In Finnish: metsätähti
Family: Primulaceae
Genus: Lysimachia
Species: L. europaea

LILY OF THE VALLEY
In Finnish: kielo
Family: Asparagaceae
Genus: Convallaria
Species: C. majalis

FORGET-ME-NOT
In Finnish: puistolemmikki
Family: Boraginaceae
Genus: Myosotis
Species: M. scorpioides

LILAC
In Finnish: syreeni
Family: Oleaceae
Genus: Syringa
Species: S. vulgaris

HACKBERRY – BIRD CHERRY
In Finnish: tuomi
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Prunus
Species: P. padus

BIRCH
In Finnish: koivu
Family: Betulaceae
Subfamily: Betuloideae
Genus: Betula

JUNIPER
In Finnish: kataja
Family: Cupressaceae
Genus: Juniperus
Species: J. communis

SIBERIAN LARCH
In Finnish: lehtikuusi
Family: Pinaceae
Genus: Larix
Species: L. sibirica

SCOTS PINE
In Finnish: mänty
Family: Pinaceae
Genus: Pinus
Species: P. sylvestris

SPRUCE
In Finnish: kuusi
Family: Pinaceae
Genus: Picea
Species: P. abies

COMMON COLUMBINE – GRANNY’S BONNET
In Finnish: akileija
Family: Ranunculaceae
Genus: Aquilegia
Species: A. vulgaris
I found conflicting ideas on the edibility of this plant, does anyone have experience with this perennial?

RED CLOVER
In Finnish: puna-apila
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Trifolium
Species: T. pratense

RHODODENDRON
In Finnish: alppiruusu
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Rhododendron
Species: R. ferrugineum

BURNET ROSE
In Finnish: juhannusruusu
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Rhododendron
Species: R. ferrugineum

WOOD CRANESBILL
In Finnish: metsäkurjenpolvi
Family: Geraniaceae
Genus: Geranium
Species: G. sylvaticum

LUPINE
In Finnish: lupiini
Family: Fabaceae
Tribe: Genisteae
Genus: Lupinus
Lots of perennial flowers and plants are edible. Head over to the Nordic Foraging section of this blog to discover more!

Supported by Taike