It's Lupine Time

The lupines are open at Roshara. When I was a kid, I didn’t know about lupines, didn’t know If I’d ever seen one as they didn’t grow on the home farm.


When we bought Roshara in 1966, I discovered this patch of beautiful, lavender-purple flowers growing in on the south side of the property. I checked them out in my flower-identification book and learned that they were lupines and that they were in the pea family. Scientific name: Lupinus perennis L.


I was curious about their name and learned that it refers to Lupus, which refers to the Latin name for wolf. At one time it was believed that the lupines robbed the soil of its nutrients. The opposite is true. Lupines are long-lived nitrogen-fixing plants. They add to the soil’s nutrients.


Our sandy, acidic soils are ideal for this beautiful, native plant, which has a long tap root and allows it to go deep for moisture and survive during dry spells. Today, after removing brush and other shade-producing plants over the years, the patch of lupines has grown to a couple acres in size—quite a sight to see when they are all in bloom.


Beyond their beauty and soil enhancing properties, the wild lupines are host plants for the endangered Karner blue butterfly. We have Karner blues. Sometimes we may see a half-dozen or so of them flitting about the lupines—a double treat for any nature lover.


The Old Timer Says: Nature offers so much to enjoy—early June is lupine time.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: My writing class at The Clearing in Door County is scheduled: Friday, July 27, 9-4. Call 920-854-4088 to register.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

--June 20, 1-3 p.m. Cheese Center, Plymouth. Book Signing

--July 27, 9-4, Writing Workshop, The Clearing, Door County

--August 3, 1:00 p.m. Chilton Library. With Sue. Old Farm Country Cookbook.

--August 7, 5:30 Downtown Madison Historical Museum. With Sue. Old Farm County Cookbook.

--Sept 8. 10 a.m. Mt. Horeb Library, Once a Professor.

Purchase Jerry’s signed DVDs and books from the Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fundraiser for them):

Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.org
www.wildroselibrary.org
Phone: 920-622-3835

DVDs: His latest Public TV show, One-Room Country School is now available. It’s based on his book, One-Room Country Schools (also available).
Emmy Winner, A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps (based on The Quiet Season book.)
Jerry Apps a Farm Story (based on Rural Wit and Wisdom and Old Farm books.)
The Land with Jerry Apps, (based on the book Whispers and Shadows,)
Never Curse the Rain, (based on his book with the same title)
The library has several of Jerry’s signed books for sale including Jerry’s newest nonfiction books, Once a Professor, Every Farm Tells a Story, Living a County Year (reprints), One-Room Country Schools, Never Curse the Rain and Old Farm Country Cookbook, and his novel, The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County. Also Wisconsin Agriculture: A History, Roshara Journal (with photos by Steve Apps) and Telling Your Story—a guidebook for those who want to write their own stories.

Contact the library for prices and special package deals.


IO