Man Plants Flowers To Beautify Seyðisfjörður

Svavar Garðarsson from Búðardalur has brought 200 flowers to Seyðisfjörður in an attempt to bring colour and life back to the area following a series of devastating landslides late last year, RÚV reports.

Svavar told RÚV that the landslides were not only a shock to the impacted zone—but to the entire nation. Hundreds of families were evacuated due to risk of landslides that occurred over several days in December 2020. Some of the displaced were never able to return home.

His journey of over 550 km from Búðardalur in West Iceland brought these flowers to Seyðisfjörður all the way in the east as a much needed extension of summer. He created flower gardens around large rocks that were deposited during the landslides as well as in some places where homes once stood.

While Svavar was out planting, a woman walking with children stopped and said to him, “Thank you for planting flowers in my garden. My house was right here.”

Already well-known in his town of Búðardalur for adorning the area with his plants, Svavar was awarded the West Icelander of the Year (Vestlendingur ársins) in 2017 for his efforts in bringing beauty to his home locale.

Note: Due to the effect the Coronavirus is having on tourism in Iceland, it’s become increasingly difficult for the Grapevine to survive. If you enjoy our content and want to help the Grapevine’s journalists do things like eat and pay rent, please consider joining our High Five Club.

You can also check out our shop, loaded with books, apparel and other cool merch, that you can buy and have delivered right to your door.

Also you can get regular news from Iceland—including the latest notifications on eruptions, as soon as they happen—by signing up to our newsletter.