Today you'll find me planting lupine seeds in our cottage garden. I am redoing a bit of the landscaping and it will look lovely later in the season. I had lupines in my garden while living in the Pacific Northwest, and I miss this little flower.
The flower symbolism associated with lupines are of imagination. The name "lupinus" actually means "of wolves" due to the mistaken belief of ancient people that lupines robbed the soil of nutrients. Lupines actually add nitrogen to the soil and fertilize the ground around them.
Did you realize that there are more than 200 species of lupines and that they are the only food for the Karner Blue Butterfly caterpillar? The larvae crawl up the stems of wild lupines to feed on the new leaves in mid April.
Lupine seeds are rich in protein and can be used in feed for cattle, to aid digestion, used in skin care for removing spots from the face, and the Romans used the flat seeds for theater money. The Romans also used lupines for fertilizer and ate the high-protein seeds. The flowers are useful for dyeing cloth.
If you have a dry area of your garden where you find it difficult to grow flowers, give the lovely lupine a try. The lupine blossom scent is like that of honey, and I'm sure you will find it to be a lovely addition to your landscape.
1 comments:
One of my favorites!
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