“It’s lupine time! Go lupines, go lupines, go, go, go lupines!” spontaneously chanted my 5-year-old on our walk to his brother’s school mid-March. He does know how to celebrate, when he’s not fighting over who ran fastest down the hill. In a way the lupines are racing too. Their goal? To sprout, grow, flower, and pop out seeds within a few month’s time. Survival for them, a beautiful show for us. The winners lie safely dormant among the gravel until next winter, sometimes longer.
Lupines are a favorite symbol of beginnings and renewal for my family. Ten years ago, funny little finger-like plants poked through previously bare gravel on the slope of my then-fiancé Tim’s backyard. Frequent rains that winter surprised us soon with a blanket of lupine flowers! At the same time, Tim and I were busily preparing for our wedding day. Had he planted the flowers as a gift? No. Had my mom secretly scattered the seeds? No. Had the plants been waiting under the weed cloth installed by the previous owners? That’s our best guess. In the weeks leading up to my friends and me hand-crafting wildflower bouquets, Tim nurtured the lupines with hose water during our nightly phone calls across town. That truly was a gift.
The gift keeps on giving. My husband Tim and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in March, this year in Madera Canyon to watch birds and clouds. Back home, the lupines are still in bloom, again. We’ve supplemented with a little extra seed (usually from Tohono Chul Park) and water over the years. The surprise of just when and where the purple-blue flowers bloom still helps me pause my own racing around just to smile.
Photos by Anna Van Devender unless otherwise noted.