Alliums first to bloom...

The alliums are the first to bloom among the native New Hampshire spectacular beauty, the lupine, in our backyard garden. An allium is a unique, single stalked flower that towers  3-4 feet above the other flowers with a globe-shaped spikey flower, which is still attractive after it's dried.  Alliums are deer resistant and are planted from bulbs in the Fall. 


Lupines grow among each other in home gardens and in fields across New Hampshire.  We even have a June Lupine Festival in their honor when they bloom in various shades of purple, pink, and white. 


A few years ago, when we first bought the Buttonwood Inn, we had about two to three plants--now we have more than a dozen along the pool fence in the back yard and quite a few more in the various gardens around the inn.  I've transplanted a few after they bloom where they've spread their seeds in the garden.  The suggested way to grow lupines is to harvest their seeds in the early Autumn, dry them, and plant them the next Spring.  Aside from their beautiful conical-shaped summer blooms, lupines are hardy, deer resistant, and require little care.