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Lovely Lupine

June 20th, 2017

Here in Maine lupines are very common, you’ll see scores of them blooming on hillside, by the road, and in gardens. Most of them are purple, with a few white and pink ones scattered in. My mom’s garden features a nice stand of lupine, she started them from seed a few years ago. When I was visiting last summer, I bought back dark pink lupine.


Not only are lupines lovely flowers to have in the garden, they’re beneficial as well. Lupines are leguminous and make nitrogen. Incorporating nitrogen fixing plants into our borders is one way to save money in the garden, we need less fertilizer if we have plants that provide it for other plants.

What’s blooming in your garden today?

8 Comments to “Lovely Lupine”
  1. Chris on June 20, 2017 at 10:59 am

    What a beautiful color of Lupine! How long does it take them from seed to bloom? Speaking of seeds, I just realized I didn’t plant the poppy seeds you sent me and I’m wondering…is it too late to plant them now for any blooms this year? Most poppies are already blooming around here but maybe they would just come up later in the season??

    Reply to Chris's comment

    • Susy on June 20, 2017 at 1:47 pm

      They are perennials but rather short lived (typically 2-5 years). I find they bloom best the second and third years. Then they produce seed and seedlings around the plant.

      Save the poppy seeds and plant them next winter/spring. They need a bit of cold to germinate. Though you could try putting some in the freezer then scattering.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  2. Chris on June 21, 2017 at 10:23 am

    I willl try popping some in the freezer and see if that works! Thanks!

    Reply to Chris's comment

  3. Nebraska Dave on June 21, 2017 at 10:38 pm

    Susy, yeah, still now summer flowers in the garden. Tomatoes, green beans, green peppers are all in bloom. I’m not where close to the first tomato that I harvested last year on this day. This year the tomatoes barely have little green tomatoes on them. They do look good and healthy and will eventually produce an abundant crop. Last year the plants looked a little anemic but they produce quite well. This year the plants look good but the tomatoes are slow coming. It’s what I like about gardening. Every year is different; full of surprises; and bountiful with the mysteries of nature.

    Have a great Lupine Day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

  4. Jennifer on June 22, 2017 at 7:28 pm

    I didn’t notice Lupines until moving to Washington State-but maybe I just didn’t notice flowers as much in Mn…my children love Lupines because of the book “Miss Rumphius”-it’s a great book about makin the world a better place-pretty sure it takes place in Maine as well. Anyway-Lupines play a key role in the story💕 There is a field of purple and white ones growing wild that I pass on the way to town. I love to watch each year.

    Reply to Jennifer's comment

    • Susy on June 26, 2017 at 9:01 am

      I gave this book to my nieces & nephew as part of our “Maine Days of Christmas”.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  5. Kirsten on June 24, 2017 at 9:44 pm

    Here’s a question I’m struggling to find an answer for – is it pronounced “lu-pine” the way it’s spelled? Or “lu-pin” like a wolf, and the way I’ve heard it said recently? The English nut in me would certainly cringe if it’s the latter.

    Reply to Kirsten's comment

    • Susy on June 26, 2017 at 9:00 am

      It’s like clematis, hosta, astilbe, peony, and other plants. There are several acceptable pronunciation, many of them depend on which area of the country you’re from. We pronounce it “looopin” as do most people I know, my grandfather, pronounced it “loopine”. But then he said “ponsetty” instead of “poinsetta” (he’s from the hills of WV and they have interesting ways of pronouncing things there).

      Reply to Susy's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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