Western Lupine

There’s no place as sacred to my family as the Big Horn Mountains. We were raised in these forests, playing among the aspens, making boats out of tree bark and sending our cargo down Clear Creek.

Where the North and South Fork of Clear Creek meet, my family has a cabin. Here the flowers bloom in a delicate balance of Queen Anne’s Lace among the sharp stabs of Arrowhead Daisies and the drooping bluebells. Lupine carpets can be found along the forest floors.

There’s a magic to catching wildflowers in bloom, and though there’s a rhythm to when they bloom, there’s no guarantee how long they’ll last into the heat of summer.

Perhaps the most captivating of the Big Horn blooms is the Lupinus perennis, or the Western Lupine. With it’s hairy leaflets and varying shades of blooms—some a rich purple while others cultivate a pinkish center, and yet others grow an almost blue tint—the Lupine is a charmer of the forest.