Beautiful blue shrub a welcome sight
In the springtime, sand dunes along the beaches in South Walton are dolloped with beautiful blue lupine.
The gulf coast lupine (Lupinus westianus) is a native plant and endemic to Northwest Florida. Lupine habitats are sand hills, scrubs and coastal dunes. This particluar perennial shrub is only found in a few counties with Walton fortunate enough to be one of them. The beautiful blue flowers provide a delicate lavender-like scent.
Early settlers to the panhandle saw and abundance of the lupine in a high dune area of Santa Rosa Beach, and aptly named it Blue Mountain.
Don’t try to take away from its natural habitat, as it is almost impossible to successfully transplant. Learn more about this special plant and its threatened species status here.
Click below for Walton area State Parks where you can enjoy:
Topsail Hill Preserve State Park