Ditches are unremarkable — except when filled with lupin, as they are right now on the roads around Keweenaw and Huron Bays. In fact, much of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is decorated by these stately blue/purple flowers — sometimes punctuated by white or pink — which belong to the legume family. (Think peas.) Cars stop on the roadside. Facebook posts blast with blue. I smile involuntarily as I drive by them and grin when daisies or buttercups pop up among them.
Lupin — also known as lupine or sometimes bluebonnet– has brought me such moments of joy during a sad time as we buried my Mom recently in her hometown here in the far-north. (She died in January in Montana; see this post.) In the midst of a kind of heaviness, I was lifted by their cheeriness. I was disappointed to learn that this ditch-growing species is not native. There are nearly 200 species of lupin (who knew?), and this Big Leaf lupin somehow made its way here from the West Coast. Does that matter? Yes, because they don’t attract butterflies or bees, and so don’t help in pollination. They are also considered invasive, meaning they displace native plants.
Ah, well. I love them anyway. I appreciate pollinating plants, but this one has my heart — even if it is an intruder. Photos below, including the new gravestone to honor my parents (at the end).
For Many Moons 