Much to my surprise, a tall plant with dark blue buds suddenly appeared in my garden in early May. I never planted it, so the birds must have done it for me! I watched it grow taller, and eagerly awaited the blooming of the many flowers along the branched stalk. After several weeks, I was rewarded for my patience.
Isn't it a beauty? I love the deep
blue color. It reminds me of a sweet
pea.
In my research I also found that it is a wild lupine which grows all over
the U.S. But this blue color is the only
one that grows in my NYS region. All the rest are shades of blue, purple,
orange and yellow. Actually, lupines are
a member of the pea and clover family.
I also learned that the wild lupine
is an essential plant for the larvae of the Karner Blue Butterfly. If the little caterpillars don't find a
lupine around, they won't survive. It's
their only food source!
Karner Blue Butterfly from NYS Dept. of Conservation
I'm looking forward to possibly seeing a Karner Blue--that would be
awesome.
See pictures and learn more about the connection between wild lupines and the KarnerBlue Butterfly in an article written by Kim Mitchell and Cathy Carnes.
How to grow lupines:
Preferred soil conditions are sandy dry soil in full sun to semi-shady
conditions in a cool climate. Mine is
growing in one of my semi-shaded gardens here in the woods, but they are also found on open
savannas, and recently logged or burned areas.
Their seeds need snow cover to protect them over the winter.
Blooming in late May through June, they produce seed pods, which pop open
and spread their seeds. You'll know
when that is about to happen because the pods will turn black. And then the lupines will die back in
July. When the Karner Blue Butterfly larvae hatch, they browse on the leaves of the lupine. It takes a lot of lupine leaves to ensure the
butterfly larvae will survive to metamorphosize into adult butterflies.
Learn more about collecting and replanting seeds from Ellen Brown in her
article here:
Enjoy!
2 comments:
What a beautiful surprise for your garden, Pearl! Since they like sandy soil, perhaps one of your birds will bring some to me when they migrate south this year!
Great idea! I hope they do--these are really pretty wildflowers. Still no sign of the caterpillars that love to eat them. Maybe after this rain passes!
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