Except those that aren’t. We were driving back from Central Otago via Moa Flat and through Edievale at which point I asked Nigel to pull over. The reason was this beautiful clump of yellow lupins flowering on the roadside verge with a weathered rustic shed behind the blooms. A few metres further along the road I found the other not-yellow lupins.
West Otago, New Zealand. 24 November.
Text and photos by Liz; Exploring Colour (2022)
Exploring Colour 
Another gorgeous yellow, but I’d have to vote for the more traditional pink/purple as my favorites on this one.
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There’s plenty to go ’round! Took some more photos yesterday that have lupins, alongside an old school ruin.
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Wow, these are beautiful. The yellow lupins seem to form a shrub. I have never seen them grow in such a cluster before.
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That’s right Tanja, they grow as a big clump and seem to thrive in places like banks where it’s well drained. We see them in parts of Central Otago that are more hot and dry in summer, quite different to the non-yellow lupins.
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What a fabulous clump of lupins! My attempt at growing them here didn’t go well – had better results back in Scotland.
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Big swathes of them bloom in some places in the South Island to photographers’ delight (but not to the Dept of Conservation’s delight!)
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Bet they support a good number of bees and other pollinators…so delighted bees maybe?
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Probably! We were out for a bit of a drive today and I saw more of the yellow lupins. Thinking about them reminded me that the yellow lupins are different to the others. The yellow ones grow on places where they’re exposed.. like banks at the side of the road.. situations that are drier where the other lupins don’t grow. They seem to do well in places that get hot summers (Central Otago does). You might find the yellow ones would work in your situation. Pretty sure they’re a different species (ages since I read anything about them).
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Sounds like they might do OK here…
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We don’t have lupins where I live. But I have seen them other places. Magnificent blooms. Love your photos დ
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They’re a very pretty pest plant here in the South Island! but when I see them blooming, I’ll bloomin’ well photograph them 😀
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