A lupin the size of our car

Yesterday when my husband and I got to our son’s elementary school to pick him up, we found him sitting on the playground cradling a tiny plant in a big nursery tub. He was thrilled to inform us that it was a lupin given to him by Julia, the school’s AmeriCorp volunteer and keeper of the school garden. Apparently the students that helped in the garden were allowed to dig up one each to take home. He really could not wait to get it planted in our back yard for two reasons- 1) Julia told him that he should be careful where he plants it because it will grow “as big as our car” (fortunately we have a small hatchback) and 2) Remus Lupin, of course! The werewolf from Harry Potter! What could be more exciting to a 10 year old boy than the idea of growing a werewolf plant the size of a four door import? Because parents are killjoys we pointed out that there’s hardly room in our yard for something that big, but Harold shot back with the suggestion that we tear down the garden shed and plant it in that spot. It is a good suggestion since Portland’s record snowfall last winter nearly caved in the roof. It’s supposed to be nice this weekend, I think we’ll be in the yard finding a nice spot where the lupin can get some sunshine, and unobstructed views of a full moon.


Sue Korpela, Operations Manager