Last week, Blandine and I went to an enormous farm cum nursery in nearby St Romain en Gal for stocking up on seedlings for the summer. This is usually Blandine's gig. She is the gardener in the family. I was there to lug the stuff into the car. And then my eyes fell on this HUGE GALUMPHING GORGEOUSLY UGLY Flower. "Ugh! Moche!" said Blandine, which is French for Ugly. But for me, it was love at first sight. I insisted on buying it, although it was ridiculously expensive (20 euros, mostly because it was fully grown and in a pot). She told me it was called "Lupin", and was a mountain flower. (same name in English and French, although the French pronounce it differently). She tried to nudge me towards a number of other Lupins on display, which were more aesthetically colored in pale pinks and whites. But I insisted on my Yellow-Burgundy monstrosity.
We brought it home, replanted it in a bigger pot, put it at the bottom of the staircase. Here it is, in all its glory. In this new setting, even Blandine admits it doesn't look as overpowering as it did in the nursery. It goes quite well with our facade, actually. What do you think?
