The (Childhood) Inspiration:

Miss Rumphuis by Barbara Cooney

The Inspired Gardener:

Lupinus ‘Salmon Star’

A gradient of pink and apricot-colored flowers that gradually mature to a light orange-yellow.

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When I saw the array of lupine at my local gardening center, I was immediately reminded of the gorgeous pages of Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney, modeled after Hilda Edwards Hamlin who immigrated to the coast of Maine from England. She was a traveler, a scholar, and an artist. She first imported Lupinus Polyphyllus “garden lupine” seeds from England and scattered them throughout mid-coast Maine. While they are potentially invasive, these blue and purple flowers have naturalized quite well along the coast.

While Hilda settled in Christmas Cove, South Bristol, Maine, and lived there until two weeks before her 101st birthday, I wonder if she ever knew how far and how long her inspiration would spread. Even so, to a quiet town along the coast of Massachusetts, where two Salmon Star lupine grow, thirty-seven years after her passing. I guess that might tell all of us, that you don’t need grand monuments to leave something lasting; sometimes, just scattering seeds is enough.