June is Bustin' Out All Over!

The lupines are out in full force. Radiant spikes of purple-blue with occasional pinks and whites line the roadsides, appear at the edges of forest, peek out of tall grasses, and stake their claim amidst acres and acres of green.

Two nights ago I stopped along a gravel road to pick a bouquet. I felt like a thief! Lupines should truly be left where they grow. Still, I couldn’t resist plucking a handful. These glorious blooms hold an honored spot on our kitchen counter and feed our souls each time we enter the kitchen.

Why are lupines so magnificent? Part of their wonder is in their wildness. They are hardy enough to survive among tall weeds and grasses that would overwhelm other varieties. Yet they seem frail and elusive. Where will they show up next? What colors will be revealed? It’s hard to know until they appear. Locals and visitors both relish these few short weeks of summer that sing with lupines!

But lupines aren’t the only blooms over which we hold bragging rights. Driving back from teaching my t’ai chi chih moving meditation class in Cornucopia last week I saw a field of white daisies. They were so plentiful they resembled snow covering the field of grass. When I attended retired biologist Tom Gerstenberger’s slide presentation on “Special Places in Bayfield County” at the Bayfield Library last Saturday night (part of a 24-hour BioBlitz), he mentioned that same field of daisies. They were fabulous!

Several other beauties of the northland: buttercups spring up abundantly, adding a yellow glow to the summer heat. Orange hawkweed, too, hums its vibrant tune along the roadways. Both varieties are a delicious treat; too delicate to include in bouquets but eye-catching in their natural habitat. I can almost see wood nymphs dancing across their blossoms in frenzied delight!

Blackberry bushes also blossom prolifically; large white flowers that whisper a promise of delicious fruit. I impatiently await the small purple-black berries that will soon hang heavily at the ends of these branches.

Every summer these indescribable wildflowers surprise me with their fortitude and vibrancy. They’re truly a gift of pleasure and presence. Just yesterday this song from the musical “Carousel” echoed into me: “June is bustin’ out all over. All over the meadow and the hill! Buds’re bustin’ outa bushes And the rompin’ river pushes Ev’ry little wheel that wheels beside the mill!” Rodgers & Hammerstein had it right. It’s almost July but June IS bustin’ out all over!