June 4, 2026
Good morning!
It’s Thursday, and we made it back home in time to catch the lilacs handing their batons over to the lupines.
I’m always fascinated by the timing of things. The lupines might start flowering at the end of May, or bloom right now, or wait until later in June.
But as wide as their swing might be, their place in the unfoldment of the season never changes.
“For the world was built in order
And the atoms march in tune;
Rhyme the pipe, and Time the warder,
The sun obeys them, and the moon.”—Ralph Waldo Emerson
Onwards,
Clara
Blue lupines and California poppies— my favorite wildflowers. It makes me a little homesick for California to see this. With lupines, it’s not just the lovely flowers; I adore the beautiful circular arrangement of leaves, lightly silvered with soft hairs. Beautiful individually; gorgeous in a swath across a hillside, subtler than the poppies, wonderful complements to each other. They don’t do well as cut flowers—only to be enjoyed while walking my dogs through the open areas and on hikes and when camping. Every now and then I see a white one—I was so entranced the first time, I tied a piece of yarn to the stalk (one always has yarn, of course, don’t you?) to mark it, and when they went to seed I collected them and brought them home to plant in my yard. Such a joy every spring to be surprised again by the color when they flowered! You’d think I’d remember after all the effort, but it was always an unexpected delight.
Oh my, I had forgotten how much I love lupins until I saw this photo.