Beautiful blooms color the sand

In spring, the sand dunes along the beaches in South Walton are dolloped with blue lupine. The gulf coast lupine (Lupinus westianus) is threatened and endemic to Florida.

Their habitats are sand hills, scrubs and coastal dunes. Some say that this rare perennial shrub is only found in a few counties with Walton fortunate enough to be one of them.

Early settlers to the panhandle saw and abundance of blue mountain in the Blue Mountain Beach covered in lupine, hence its namesake. This time of year you can see it blooming even though habitat loss has made this lovely blooming flower a special treat to see.

Don’t try to take any as it’s habitat is unique and almost impossible to successfully transplant.