• Tuesday-What'sUP July 5 - 10:43 pm

I've been admiring lupines scattered along the roads and populating open fields, for many years, but didn't know until just recently that these pretty shades of purple, pink and white flowers are part of the bean family. I'm betting Marv and Ellie Hopf weren't thinking about a bean crop when they spotted this field full, while out for a drive on the Gay-Lake Linden road recently! Another tidbit about these roadside beauties, is that the seeds, pods and young leaves of the plant are toxic if eaten. Now when I read that, I was thinking, "Why would you eat them anyway?" But think about this... if grazing cattle eat quantities of them, it doesn't bother the bovine itself, rather, it's milk becomes poisonous. Who'd have thought such beauty could cause misery too, but take heart if you've recently ingested lupine seeds, it's rarely fatal! :->

Whoops... that's a first. Tuesday's picture published on Monday. We were up late because of fireworks and celebration. Hope you had a nice holiday. Thanks again to all who made it out to Pasty Fest.

Wow! Tonight my being a night-owl pays off! What a beautiful photo. I'm going though Copper-country withdrawal just looking at it. Time to visit must be drawing near!

A picture early enough for me. Been a while since I've seen that;)

I remember when the cows arround here would get into the wild leeks in the Spring and it sure would give the milk a "taint" but not poisonous!

Thanks, now I know why the deer eat everything in the yard, except the lupines.

Fabulous!

One of the things I love about driving through the U.P. is the lupines along the road. They are beautiful.

One of my favorite memories of the Copper Country were
the beautiful wildflowers growing in the area. My
grandparents' back yard in Houghton had Indian
paintbrush, tiny daisies, and forget-me-nots. To this day,
all of them are dear to my heart. And of course, those
single-flower hollyhocks that still grow in the alleys of the
old neighborhoods.

From my days at MTU I too will always remember the Hollyhocks that seemed to grow in every sidewalk crack and alley way. I will be darned if I can replicate that in my tended and cultivated garden! ;o)

I've been SO homesick reading about Pasty fest for the past however long it's been, that my husband and I broke down yesterday and made a batch of our own homemade pasties. Running the oven all day in 110 degree heat isn't fun, but boy was it worth it!!

Ditto to Trish, WA. I remember all of the same flowers growing up in Houghton, and also have fond memories of the buttercups, lily of the valley, violets,pansies in my grandma's garden, and making dolls out of the hollyhocks. One of my other favorite things was all the delicious fresh strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and of course thimbleberries, lots of picking and eating. Living out west, the berries cost a whole lot more and don't taste half as yummy! Also, I remember keeping a small salt shaker in my pocket for eating apples right off the tree (red and green) when playing outside with the neighborhood kids. Would not have traded my childhood with anyone in the world.

LUPINES OR LUPINS (both spellings are correct) are members of the Bean Family, or Fabaceae, which were introduced to Nova Scotia from the Mediterranean as ornamental plants, but which have escaped cultivation to become common in the wild, along roadways & other open spaces. Its relatives, SCOTCH BROOM, ROBINIA OR LOCUST TREE, and LABURNUM are also introductions from Europe and elsewhere which are poisonous.
Although the Bean Family provides some of humankind's most nutritious food crops- soybeans, for example, fababeans, and chick peas, not to mention legume forage crops such as alfalfa, clover and vetch, it also inflicts a wide variety of toxins on the unwary.

Due to the length of the rest of the article and to not take up too much space here, those of you with further interest in lupines toxic info can click on over to LUPINES and read all about it!

GREETINGS!


This is my father's first time writing in to Pasty Cam. He just got out of the hospital and is champing at the bit to go to the UP and pick blueberries. So we will--but not until Saturday.

So kosk in Toronto's dad, a true Yooper, will probably be a regular viewer from now on and his moniker will be k at interlude.

Oh yes, I really meant to write about the lupines. Once while heading back to Toronto, my kids and I spotted some gorgeous lupines near the railroad tracks near Baraga. We hopped out of the car and picked some and used a Hills Bros. coffee can to add water from the Falls River. We left the bouquet on Grandpa's grave in L'Anse. The cousins figured out who had been there. See..there are many uses for Hills Bros. cans besides as containers for worms!

NC
Black locust, Honey Locust, and Water Locust trees are all native to the USA.

I have a black locust growing near the house, started I suspect from a seed dropped by a bird. It grew from seedling to 25 feet in three years. It has wick thorns but the shade is bright and lots of perennials bloom fine underneath it: campanulas, meadow sage, even a rugosa rose. Some day it will blow down on my house and I'll wish I had moved the thing further away when it was small, but in the meantime I am enjoying it.

Therese from down under
Black locust is known for it`s fast early growth.
It`s Planted on reclaimed strip mined land.
( along with other species )It`s fast growth and spreading root system make it a good choice for erosion control. It also fixes nitrogen which helps improve soil.

GIVE ME ALL YOUR LUPINES!!!