Silver Lupin in the Rain

2018 on April 27th. This is a silvery lupin (Lupinus argenteus) a common western plant. I have had mixed success with them in my yard so far. I have transplanted a few, but mostly they do not care for such treatment. I have also gathered seeds and had some come up, but many of them have not survived beyond their first season. This one was two years old in 2018 and living with the previous year's spent plant stalks and leaves. I call this technique composting in place. Instead of trying to make a perfectly neat yard by hauling stuff away I just let it break down where it falls. This is not because I am a lazy villain, but because it creates a natural healthy soil.

Honest.

I can identify old elm leaves and black-eyed-susan seed heads in the browns. The living plants around the palmate leaves of the lupin are some nice green and fuzzy black-eyed-susan leaves and the slightly toothed oblanceolate leaves of smooth white aster.