Valentine Lupine

As I posted Wildflower Heart images this week, I became curious about the origin of Valentine’s Day. Of several theories presented on the pages I googled, one theory, I think, would have tickled George.

In ancient Roman times there was festival on the “ides of February” devoted to the fertility of crops and women, called Lupercalia. The root of the word being Lupus, or Wolf, relating to the wolves who cared for Romulus and Remus. Fast forward to the 5th Century, when the Pope at that time proclaimed February 14th as St. Valentine’s Day, as a way of replacing the pagan celebration of Lupercalia, with a more “Christian” theme .

So perhaps the most appropriate flower for Valentine’s Day is the Lupine!

Why would a wildflower be associated with “wolf”? Long ago, when European’s first noticed the flower, it grew in sandy, rocky soil, with no surrounding flowers. They interpretted that the Lupine were “robbing” the soil of nutrients, so no other plants (crops) could grow. This reminded them of the Wolf, who “stole” their livestock.

In George’s “Lupine” image, you can see that these flowers are thriving in very sandy soil. It turns out that Lupine are great at absorbing Nitrogen from the air and pulling it down into the soil, helping increase it’s fertility - or giving the soil some Valentine love, if you will.

Spread some Love this Valentine’s Day!