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Project Noah Nature School
Lupinus perennis
20" upright elongated clusters of blue (actually colors vary. Purple-blue is the most common though) 1/2 " pea flowers atop erect stems. Leaves palmately divided into 7-11 lanceolate leaflets. Blooms May- July
Dry woods and fields
Lupine is easily harvested for seeds and planted in flower gardens. The flowers drop away revealing a green pod, which will ripen, darken in color and dry till it pops open and the seeds drop out. I harvest dried pods for the seeds, to plant around houses etc. Before the flowers drop, I flag certain Lupine bushes of a desirable color (white, or white, tinted with color, also shades of pink) to harvest their seeds. White plants do not run true, which means any seeds I get from a white plant may be pink next season. However, the likely hood of getting a white plant increases. Where I have seen white plants before, there are always more white plants the next summer. I guess Lupine does not always thrive in every state. In Maine, it thrives beautifully, though prone to aphid infestations.
Spotted on Jun 18, 2012
Submitted on Jul 18, 2012
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