Is lupinus your birthday flower?

Lupinus commonly called lupine, also written lupin, and in some areas known as Bluebonnet, are the birthday flower of November 2nd. But they are also the birthday flower of March 10th, March 17th and May 31st.

In Japanese, they are named from the genus and are thus called Lupinasu ルピナス. But they are also sometimes called climbing (nobori) or standing (tachi) wisteria (fuji), as they look like upside-down wisteria! In the hanakotoba – the Japanese language of flowers – the meaning of the Lupine is the same as in English. Lupine represents “voraciousness”, “imagination” and “always happy”. The English, Lupine, comes from the Latin word for wolf. They were such called because it was once believed that they sucked all the nutrients from the soil. It turns out though, that as members of the legume family, they are actually good for the soil.

There are many different varieties of lupinus. It is estimated that there are more than 199 species. In Japan they bloom in spring, generally in line with Golden Week, so from about the end of April to around May 6th. The type used in gardens and flower in displays here in Japan grow to about 60 centimeters. There is a beautiful large display in Shinrin Park (aka Musashi Kyuryo National government park) in Saitama Prefecture for Golden week annually.