Silver Bush Lupine
Lupinus albifrons is a California native, including throughout Northern California and into Oregon, that mounds about 3 ft with another 2ft. worth of bloom spikes on top of that. It’s cold hardy to 20F and can handle some heat too, although the plant will be a lot smaller in the interior of the state.
Butterflies are attracted to this plant, as one would expect.
Lupines are early adopters of fire-ravaged landscapes and naturally deer-resistant. Only one of those 2 pieces of information is useful to gardeners.
It is a critical host plant for the Mission Blue Butterfly, whose larvae will only eat this or 2 other lupines. So let your garden plants be eaten to help preserve the Mission Blue? Or maybe do some random plantings of L. albifrons out on the hillsides when no one is looking. Now is a good time to get them to root and establish.
