Gardening is a competitive sport in Vermont. Maybe it’s because our growing season is so short (148 days) and because everyone spends long white winter months dreaming of color so when spring finally comes, spades fly.
Prior to moving to Vermont, the only association I had with lupines was from the Monty Python lines our sons continually spouted. Then I began to notice people's June gardens and I fell into serious lupine-envy.
So I bought a couple of various colored varieties, tenderly planted them, watered them, spoke to them. People told me to place the colors apart or they will eventually all become purple. I separated them. They grew. I thought it was because of my burgeoning gardening skills. I carefully transplanted the babies them into what I call “Lupine Lane” in our south garden. (Next to "Lilac Alley"). This year they jumped the path and there's purple everywhere!
Lupines, I’ve now learned, are a Vermont native and our main highway 89 is lined with them at certain spots. I have a friend who when she came to interview at our nearby law school, saw the wildflowers along the highway and decided this was the state for her.
You can’t get rid of lupines short of mowing them down, or sending in the goats. They’re drought tolerant and have been described as a self-seeding native. So much for my great gardening skills.
But I don’t care how easy they are to grow. They're magnificent! And they do make a lovely perennial border, as Tony Avent says in a Horticulture Magazine article I read on line today.
Tony calls them baptisia. He plants artemesia nearby to offset the blue with silver. Great idea.
Lupines stand tall to “baptize” us in color and Artemis reminds us to keep our eyes open. Beauty’s all around!
I love lupines too, and their presence along the springtime wildflower roadsides! For some reason, though, they will not grow here. I've tried everything I can think of -- seeds, plants, pots -- nothing works. Maybe when we eventually move, I can try again ...
Have you seen the lupines in the perennial garden at Church of Our Saviour? Spectacular!
Posted by: Genie | July 17, 2009 at 07:50 AM