Lupin season is drawing to a close, but the cold spring we’ve had this year made those pretty purple flowers last a little longer. Lucky that I got back to Sweden in time not to miss this wonderful flowering, I felt like I just had to take advantage of this wonderful sight. So I organized a photo shoot with my friend Ania, who had already posed for me in the past and is always kind enough not to say no. If our previous photo session had been heavily autumn themed, here comes the glory of the Swedish summer.
There’s something about lupins that I just love, I guess it’s mostly their colour, that ranges from pale pink to blueish purple and there’s nothing I love more than purple in all its shades. End of June is when nature up here is all pink and purple from the lupins, but at the moment some fields still exhibit a full-on lupin display. There is a ski slope about a kilometer away from where I live that left me speechless while I was driving past it the other day. Lupins cover the whole slope and make it look all purple. Beautiful. I immediately called Ania and asked her to pose for me that afternoon.
The lupin plant can grow up to a metre and a half tall. When we ventured into the field we felt like in a jungle. The plants were almost as tall as ourselves, growing thick and wild. Glorious. I think these flowers are a nice feature of the Swedish summer. They remind me of the lavender fields in the south of France, so I like to nickname lupins the lavender of the north.
We took our pictures in the soft light of the afternoon. Some clouds got in the way from time to time, but we generally had pretty good natural lighting conditions throghout the photo shoot. When we came out of the field we were covered in pollen and had fought many a battle with the bugs that had been roaming around the fields. I guess that is the price to pay for getting such beautiful pictures in the gorgeous backdrop of a field full of flowers.
Many thanks to Ania, the human behind the blog Snowtoseas. Looking forward to a winter-themed photo session next time!
The lupine does not belong to the Swedish fauna. It competes with domestic flowers and does not give any food to insects. / Surgubben
As you may have seen in the photos, I appreciate it for its aesthetic quality. As for the field where we took the photos don’t worry: it’s a ski slope and nothing grows in there 😉
Hi Eva, I love your pictures! Where can I find these flowers? I live in Norrtälje and would love to visit the filed. What time of year are they in bloom?
Hello Rachel! They should start blooming soon! We’ve had a pretty cold spring here in Dalarna, so I’m not expecting them to arrive before mid June, but a friend who lives in Karlstad has already spotted some in her area! Lupins are a weed, really, so when they bloom you’ll see loads of them. Look out on the sides of roads or in fields that are not cropped. This field where I took these photos is a ski slope so in the summer it just sits there unattended and gets filled up with lupins. I think they will be blooming pretty soon where you are!