The Flower Hour #31: Local Lilacs and Lupine

For the Flower Hour, share your images of flowers, gardens, fields of flowers, seasonal leaves and plants, fungus, algae, cacti, blossoms, berries, and wildflowers. Bouquets and silk/faux flowers are welcome.

There are no specific themes for the Flower Hour; please use your own photography.

New flower images are welcomed, and archived images are encouraged.

Partially inspired by Ritva’s “Choose a Color” theme for the Lens-Artists Challenge , this week, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to show off our local purple florals that we are currently enjoying here in Northeastern Washington.

Spokane is the Lilac City

lilacs

Did you know? Spokane, Washington, is known as the birthplace of Father’s Day and locally by the nickname “Lilac City”. The first Lilac Festival was held in 1938, and soon after, Spokane became the Lilac City. John W. Duncan brought 128 lilac bushes to Manito Park in 1912, sparking a lilac craze as the city encouraged gardeners to plant fragrant bushes. Source

These gorgeous lilacs grow profusely in my neighbor’s yard!

“The smell of lilacs crept poignantly into the room like a remembered spring.” – Margaret Millar

Alpine Lupine

lupine

Lupines are plants of the Pea Family and range in color from pale pink to deep purple, with some white, cream or yellow, but most of them are blue.

I fondly remember seeing Alpine Lupine growing wild in Tuolumne Meadows in the High Country of Yosemite National Park, amidst the evergreens. This is a similar view taken near Mammoth Lakes in the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.

Lupine
This looks like my backyard!

When we discovered these growing wild own our property, we knew we moved to the right area.

Ladybug on Lupine
Ladybug on a Lupine

“Wildflowers don’t care where they grow.” – Dolly Parton

Also linking to Dawn’s Spring Festival #9.

New to The Flower Hour photo challenge? Please check out my page for more information! I encourage “double-dipping” with other blog challenges if you do not want to create a separate post.

floral signature

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88 responses to “The Flower Hour #31: Local Lilacs and Lupine”

  1. […] Posted for Terri’s Flower Hour […]

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Terri,

    Your flower pictures are gorgeous, and purple is my favorite color. I had a double treat today with your post. We’re in New Mexico today and I have nothing to share except a thank you for the post you shared with us. Hope all is well. Joe

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Joe! Purple flowers really are regal aren’t they? Happy travels in New Mexico!

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Beautiful lilacs and lupins – both are nowadys considered invasive here and are not recommended to plant…luckily I have them already!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Wow, that’s kind of sad, Anne-Christine! Lilac bushes can grow very large here. When we bought our property in 2020, the lupine already lived there 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  4. First, thank you for another weekly prompt to enjoy the flowers in our world.

    This is a wonderful post all-round! Your pictures are all great, but my fav is the shot with the Lady Beetle (but you knew it would be, didn’t you!).

    Mostly, I loved the narrative. I’d no idea Fathers’ Day originated in Spokane, nor that it is known as “Lilac City”. I think it’s perfect that you live in a city known for kindness and the beauty and sweet scent of the Lilac!

    Thanks Terri! xx

    Liked by 1 person

    1. You always leave such lovely, engaging comments, Pam! Thank you! I believe I have learned more things while blogging than any other place or book I have read. You know I always like to add a little tidbit of info to my posts 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  5. What a wonderful capture of the ladybug, Terri!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Sofia! I love the fact they don’t fly away quickly or try to sting you 😉

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Beautiful lilacs and lupines. Our neighbor across the street has large lilac bushes and they do smell so good. I like the quotes you found, too. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Barbara! It took me a year to learn all the new plants, trees and flowers we see here in the Spokane area. Who says blogging isn’t educational?

      Liked by 1 person

  7. […] The Flower Hour #31: Local Lilacs and Lupine […]

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Nice combo Terri. I remember lupines from hiking in Washington and lilacs always put on a good show. Here’s mine this week: https://grahamsisland.com/2026/05/20/tst-melinda-marie-blue-sapphire/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Graham. Having lived here before, you know exactly the excitement I feel! I’m easily amused 😆

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Any time and any place you find flowers you like is worthy of excitement!

        Liked by 1 person

  9. […] Another unusual orchid from the last Hilo Orchid show. This time it’s the color, though to me it looked on the purple end of blue. Posted for Terri’s Flower Hour. See more responses here. […]

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Oh so pretty Terri! How wonderful that you can smell the lilacs heavenly scent. I love lilacs and lupines. Our lilacs here in our area got hit by two freezes. So no lilacs this spring. I am hoping our lupines bloom this year as well. It was a very cold winter here.
    Have a fabulous day!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. How nice you also have lupines there, Nancy! Are those wild flowers or the kind you plant? Sorry the freeze stopped the lilacs this year. Luckily they’re pretty hardy! Thank you, enjoy your day!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. The lupines here locally in Pennsylvania are not wild. They are perrenials. But we did see them growing wild and quite large in upper Michigan. We have small wild lupines in Arizona in the spring time.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Yes, they look a little different than the planted lupines. They’re wild 😜

        Liked by 1 person

  11. Wonderful macros and florals Terri. The added water drops make them special. I could almost smell them 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Brian! The lilacs are incredibly fragrant!

      Liked by 1 person

  12. That sounds wonderful, Terri

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Love the lilacs bloom! Your place looks stunning, Terri.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Hazel. God knew we needed to live here!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. For sure! My pleasure, Terri.

        Liked by 1 person

  14. […] Posted on May 20, 2026 by mammasquirrel Marigolds […]

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Very good shots Terri.

    We both know the best days to shoot flowers is on overcast days.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Wayne! This is true! The bright sun can mute the textures rather than illuminate.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I find the bright sun simply blows out the subject. The latitude of exposure is just too great.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. That’s exactly what it does, Wayne!

        Liked by 1 person

  16. These shades of purple for the Lilacs and Lupine are so pretty Terri. I had two Lilac trees, one in each corner of the backyard for years, one dark purple, the other light purple. One got no sun due to a large Firebush and eventually died and the bigger one, was burned in the downed wire fire. The yard smelled beautiful in May after the rain, especially. The Lilac Festival sounds fun. On Mackinac Island they have a Lilac Festival as well – many types of lilacs but it is not until June. It’s cold up there – they still have frost warnings.

    I am double-dipping as this is my post from Sunday as it has some cheery Daffodils and the Weeping Cherry blossoms.

    Familiar places (and faces)!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I’m sorry to read that fires destroyed your lilacs, Linda! As we drove in early May this time last year, we saw countless blooming lilacs in Washington and Idaho.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I was too Terri but I’ll enjoy other people’s lilacs now – the weather is too odd to worry about new plantings. My neighbor next door cut down a beautiful Red Maple tree last week. I actually had photos of the tree in a post once as it was such a vibrant red at peak color. He said all his trees and bushes at his back fence had not come back in the Spring and had some type of disease – the tree was hollow. The Ford Estate should have their lilacs in bloom right now – I was there last week to take pics, perhaps for a pastel challenge!

        Liked by 1 person

  17. When I see lilacs, I instantly take in a big deep smell….I wanted to do that here with your photos! 💜🪻💜

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Donna! These are in my neighbor’s yard. She gave me a cutting from hers, they do grow slowly!

      Liked by 1 person

  18. We used to go to Spokane for family vacations every year when I was growing up but I didn’t know it was the Lilac City – interesting! Beautiful colors, and I love the ladybug on the lupine. Made me think of the “red hat society” – dressed in purple, with a red hat that doesn’t go LOL

    Here’s my Flower Hour post: https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-flower-hour-glen-helen-nature.html

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh how cool, Kym! I’m relatively new to Spokane having moved here in late 2020. We have a lot of extended family in the Spokane area and it made sense to retire here. Im still learning. Glad you got to visit, its a beautiful area. And yes I love winter and snow 😁 lol about the Red Hat society!!

      Like

  19. Pretty purple 😀! Incidentally- I also chose purple for this theme 🙂.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, PR, great minds think alike! 💜

      Liked by 1 person

  20. You have some gorgeous photos today!! I love both liliacs and lupines but still waiting for leaves to appear so flowers are a LONG way off at my house. Bernie

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Bernie! When the purple shows up here, spring is truly here! Wishing you spring soon!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Oh it is here now. Just hope we get spring temps and not summer ones.

        Liked by 1 person

  21. Purple, lavender, and fuchsia—my favorite colors. Beautiful colors, Terri. 💜💖💜

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Colleen! Great color favorites! 💜

      Like

  22. Those are wonderful lilacs, Terri. Just fabulous! xx

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Jo! I can’t wait until our small lilac bush grows up and blooms some day!

      Liked by 1 person

  23. Lilacs are a true sign of early Summer. I always associate them with the school term ending for summer holidays. Not to far off here, just a few weeks left and our lilacs are not blooming yet. 🙂
    Mine: https://mariawijk.wordpress.com/2026/05/19/anemone-3/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Ours just barely bloomed two weeks ago. Eastern Washington is so similar to Sweden’s climate. Thank you, Maria!

      Liked by 1 person

  24. […] Anemone Nemorosa for Terri´s Flower Hour Weekly. […]

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Robbie! The lupines have been a favorite mountain wildflowers of mine since I was a teen!

      Like

  25. […] Three photographs of my late autumn garden for Terri’s The Flower Hour which you can join in here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/05/19/the-flower-hour-31-local-lilacs-and-lupine/ […]

    Liked by 1 person

  26. What lovely colors of lilacs.Great pictures.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Lisa! They smell amazing too!

      Like

  27. Terri, a wonderful response to this week’s challenge. Somewhere there’s a poem named “Lilacs and Lupines.” Maybe AI could create one, if it can’t find one to share. >grin<

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Really? I’ll have to check it out, thanks, John!

      Liked by 1 person

  28. A ver beautiful plant, my mother LOVED Lilac!! ❤️

    Liked by 1 person

      1. You’re welcome Terri!

        Liked by 1 person

  29. I love the scent of lilacs. I am even thinking of the aroma now as I read your post. Your images give the flowers life as if I am there among the wild lilac bushes. Lupines I am not super familiar with, they look amazing, and their petals do look like pea pods. Ah, nature is so fantastic. Thank you for this joyous gallery, well-photographed and the history details. What a great moment you captured with the ladybug on the tippy-top of the Lupine…outstanding.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Thank you, dear Suzette! Both of these flowers are such a wonderful sight in May. You know spring is here! 💜

      Liked by 1 person

  30. I can smell those lilacs!

    Liked by 1 person

  31. I love lilacs, and lupines are a joy and a nuisance as they take space from our native plants, but they are pretty as they take over the sides of roads – but ours are still making us wait until they bloom.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thank you, Ritva! Luckily, its dry here so they dont take over the roads, but that would be a sight to see! Thanks for a fun challenge!

      Like

  32. Beautiful flowers and love their colors

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Sadje! It’s nice to see purple everywhere now.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I love purple flowers. 💜

        Liked by 1 person

  33. Somehow I only thought about the prime colors as an option for this one Terri but your purples are wonderful! Is the little ladybug real?? If so, great catch!! If not, very clever!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I went with the color wheel option, Tina 😁 These beauties are blooming now in our mountain climate. Yes the ladybug is real and a lucky catch! Thanks so much!

      Like

  34. […] Terri’s The #Flower Hour #31 – 19 May 2026 – “Local lilacs and […]

    Liked by 1 person

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About Me

I’m a former university adjunct Professor and retired recreation & parks practitioner living in North-Eastern Washington State near the Idaho border. Second Wind Leisure Perspectives is my blog about living a leisure lifestyle, including photography, friends, fitness, and fun.

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