In July the fields and roadsides are a sight for sore eyes. Wild flowers bloom in the most vivid and beautiful colours. Lowland flowers, mountain flowers and shoreline flowers grow side by side. Visitors are amazed by such luxuriance this far north, here at the "outer limits" of the Earth.
Gardening, however, is another matter. Cold summers could mean the end, both for flowers, and for their owner's patience. Today though, people keep at it, cultivating and nurturing their beautiful gardens, yet only a few decades ago, gardens were an upper class phenomenon.

The Hennum Garden, once belonging to Mrs. Kathrine Hennum of Å, was renowned for its beauty. A relative of hers describes it: "At the height of the summer it was at its most splendid, with hardwood trees like elm and laburnum; and the fragrance of bird cherry and jasmine. Around the cellar door there was a gateway of hops winding their way up the wall. Lupine, crocus, crown imperial, peony and lily, indeed, a whole host of flowers with foreign names could – with their fragrance and colours – stimulate the imagination with thoughts of far away places." The neighbouring garden was also beautiful. The squire's daughter, Ingrid Ellingsen, writes about her mother who worked in the garden: "During the spring and the summer she preferred to be down in the garden, working. She sowed seeds in forcing frames and planted flowers and vegetables. She obtained plants and perennials from the south, auriculas were among her favourites. In the vegetable garden she grew cauliflower, carrots, swedes, turnips, lettuce, parsley, radishes, sweet peas and beetroot."