lupine
Originally uploaded by norvegal
At long last, I have lupine!
Considered by many old-timey Mainers to be a weed, lupine is one of those gorgeous early summer flowers I've been trying to cultivate for years. I've spread seeds and planted seedlings to no avail. I figured it was Mother Nature's way of telling me to lay off, so I stopped trying a few years ago.
Lo and behold, look what sprouted from beneath where the wood pile was in my driveway last fall! Probably the least hospitable soil on earth, that's where the lupine decided to grow.
I should note that the old-timey Maine farmers (and those who wish to be perceived as old-timey Maine farmers although they moved here from Connecticut 22 years ago after taking early retirement from a lucrative career in investment banking) will call it "goddamned lupine" or, quite simply, "that goddamned weed." They use the word "goddamned" like California surfers use the word "dude," for both good and bad, in nearly every sentence. They say it very slowly, more lyric than malicious or angry, rolling the letters around in their mouths and putting lots of awe into the god part.
And if I do say so myself, it's a goddamned trait I find quite endearing.
You're Miss Rumphius!
ReplyDeleteWell, if there are tomato seedlings in my window boxes (part of the soil was compost), then it makes sense that your goddamned lupines grew out from under the wood pile.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there's the Monty Python line: 'Lupins! Bloody Lupins!' I think it's the loveliest roadside sight in Maine (aside from the coast!)
ReplyDeleteI prefer goddamned weeds that have flowers (and preferably scent) to the ones that don't. And hooray for you making the adjustment to like where the lupine is. We're having a harder time with the Wisteria that will not die. (and don't get me started on Nut Sedge!)
ReplyDeleteBest to you.
Oh, that's a weed I wish would grow here but it's too hot. When I was in Maine many years ago, I loved seeing lupine growing in fields and along the roadside.
ReplyDeleteI tried to grow Lupine, too, after Brett and I returned home from our honeymoon in Scotland ... where the Lupine was just stunning. No luck.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had some grow, somewhere! :-D
oh, nut sedge. I just spent the morning yanking baby nut sedges Out of My Garden. grrrrrr.
ReplyDeleteFor us, it's the honeysuckle. Not indigenous, grows everywhere, chokes out everything else, but I simply love the scent.
ReplyDeleteOne of those goddamned weeds is the state flower of Texas - the famous Texas bluebonnet is a lupine!
ReplyDeletelook on your knitter's review website, find my email, and send me a goddamn message, goddamn it. (Born and raised in the south, I don't use the past participle form.)
ReplyDeleteBeverly Berning
I've seen the lupine in Maine in June...absolutely goddamned stunning! My one measly blue lupine painfully pales in comparison.
ReplyDeleteAngie Archer
In Sweden, lupines are weeds too. I've seen them making waste spaces in industrial areas unexpectedly beautiful.
ReplyDelete