As we closed in on PEI the other day, we started to notice increasing amounts of lupines as a roadside weed. Appearing with more regularity, these spiky blooms of pink, white, blue and purple flowers form little oases of color against their green backdrop. And once we get to PEI, their frequency and popularity explodes.
Where we live in New England, the weeds are much less colorful. There is chicory, with its light blue, daisy-like flower; wild geraniums with tiny, little blooms; dandelions; and the more interesting and expressive thistles to mention a few. But nothing like lupines. I just purchased a quartet of them for my hillside; here they are plentiful and free. And for all purposes a weed.
Though pure luck we arrive on PEI when they are in full bloom before they go to seed. Bees and other pollinators swarm around them near the drainage ditches and in the yards of people who use them for decoration. There are some daisies trying to compete, but they can’t either aesthetically or claim enough ground. Nothing else appears to come close to their dominance.
The density of lupines ranges from a rare clump here and there, to narrow lines of flowers following drainage ditches to entire fields covered with their beautiful florets. Ted muses that perhaps he might add a few of these plants into his garden. It’s not a bad idea.
1 Comment
The lupines are exquisite. Funny how one mans weed is another’s garden treasure. S o glad to see that PEI is as lovely as ever, and still unspoiled .the pictures are very e ocative, how lovely it all is…