The main blooming season for the lupines is long over, but once in a while you might find a late blossom that catches your eye even if it is not in full bloom yet.
Late Lupine
Picture of the Day for May 31, 2016
April showers may bring May flowers, but the May rain showers, like the one this morning, are keeping the flowers watered. Although wet this morning, yesterday the field lupine displayed it purple color in the sun and the bees were busy collecting nectar.
Displaying Purple
Picture of the Day for June 20, 2015
While there are some Lupinus perennis (Wild Lupine) in the state, most of the pretty lupines spotted along the road are the Lupinus polyphyllus (Large-leaved Lupine), a native plant to the Western US but introduced by gardeners to this region. But even though they got loose, they are still pretty.
Pretty Lupines
Picture of the Day for June 25, 2014
A hillside of lupines are very pretty but they also change poor soils into a higher quality by fixing nitrogen and fertilizing barren lands. And there is a lot more to their pretty looks as they also have been used for food for over 6000 years, although never reaching the same status of a legume as soybeans or dry peas. Among the nearly 600 species of lupines, some varieties have the ‘sweet gene’ and are used more for food which have great dietary values and benefits.
More than Just Pretty Looks
Picture of the Day for November 20, 2012
The sun is shining bright but there are no Lupines or bees collecting pollen to be found this late into the fall. There are approximately 280 species of Lupinus, commonly known as Lupin or Lupine.
Lupins make good companion plants for crops that need significant amounts of nitrogen in their soil since lupins can fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and this allows lupins to be tolerant of infertile soils and capable of pioneering change in barren and poor quality soils.
The yellow legume seeds of lupins, commonly called lupin beans, were popular with the Romans, who spread the plant’s cultivation throughout the Roman Empire.
Colorful Lupine
