lupine

Awash in spring color

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There is a lovely palette of colors in our landscape now. The rains and the sunshine have encouraged all the plants and flowers to burst into bloom and fullness. And with light winds the colors seem to dance before our eyes.

My garden is filled with this lovely orange and yellow columbine. The first plant was a transplant from my mother-in-law’s garden near their lake house. The columbine have multiplied and spread, and now stand tall and full in my garden. Behind is a stand of large lupines. These too were a gift from a dear friend who shared the lupine seeds. It took a couple of years for the plants to produce their lovely blue and purple blooms, but quickly they have spread and provide a lovely backdrop to the columbine.

A few days ago I awoke to an early, cool morning with the promise of a warm day ahead. Gradually the sun cleared the house and it’s brightness flooded the gardens. The birds chirped, a soft wind started to rustle, and I enjoyed a magical few hours surrounded by color and song in the garden.

Lovely lupine

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Our spring is here, and it is lovely! The forsythia bloomed, the red bud trees blossomed out, the lilacs filled the air with their delightful scent, and now the lupine are blooming. I was driving down the road, turned a corner, and there was an embankment filled with lupine. The breeze would catch their upright blooms and they would dance, swaying back and forth. It was as if they too were welcoming the warmth of the sun and the joy of spring.

Lupines and turtles and bears, oh my!

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Spring has arrived in the northwoods of Wisconsin.  Driving along a county road we saw (and avoided) many turtles in the road and beside it.   We also saw the lupine blooming in certain areas.  It’s low to the ground and the light needs to be from the right angle to see it’s lovely colors, otherwise it blends in with the grass, dirt and sand.  We rounded a corner and I admired a large patch of lupines, noting that I needed to return to photograph it.  As I was studying the flowers I looked beyond them and saw something looking back at me.  On the edge of the woods, blending in with the shadows, was a black bear.  He looked at me and then ambled back into the woods.  Needless to say, when I returned the next day to photograph the lovely flowers I was very aware of my surroundings.  A slight rustle in the woods and I stopped to see who or what it was.  This time it wasn’t my friend the bear, but it was only a squirrel.

Wisconsin’s wild lupine

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We ventured north this weekend to the shores of Lake Superior.  After a miserably cold and rainy week the weather cleared in perfect time for the weekend, and with little to no winds and mild temperatures it was a wonderful time to explore new areas.  We wandered the highways and county roads of northern Wisconsin and even went to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  After the wet and late spring we’ve had, the roadsides are now in full bloom.  We were first treated to the white daisies and orange hawk weed that were abundant throughout the central part of Wisconsin.  Then as we reached the south shore of Lake Superior and continued to the north in Bayfield County, the lupine were in their prime.  I had seen photos of the wild lupine in the Bayfield area before, but they appeared to be in a large garden area.  I was not prepared for the plethora of blooms that were gracing the sides of the highways.  This photo was taken along the side of Highway 13 just north of Washburn.  With their blue, purple, pink, and white spikes they were a treat to the eyes and a reminder of how much we appreciate the colors of spring that replace the white of our winter season.