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The Portland Logbook #19

The Portland Logbook #19

Portland’s Prettiest Weed, a Forgotten Apple Tree, and 30+ Ways to Spend the Week

Jake Newman
June 10, 2025

The Truth About Portland’s Prettiest Weed

You’ve seen them. First it’s a flash of purple by the off-ramp. Maybe along Route 295, catching the morning light. Then they’re everywhere, lining highways, filling forgotten ditches, even clawing their way through sidewalk cracks that haven’t seen a weed wacker in years.

Mostly purple. Some pink. Occasionally, a white one pops up, like it missed the memo. They’re tall, dramatic, and impossible to ignore.

And yeah, they’re the prettiest weed in Portland.

The Kind of Flower That Stops You

Lubec Lupines - Peter’s Travel Blog

My partner’s a lilac person. And yeah, they smell incredible. But for me, it’s always been lupines. There’s something about that cracked pepper scent that hits right as the humidity starts to climb. You don’t notice it unless you crouch down and get close.

When I was a kid, we’d go to Texas in the spring to see wildflowers. Bluebonnets were the main event, whole hillsides glowing in blue and green. Turns out, Bluebonnets are lupines too. So, every June, when these start popping off in Maine, it feels like something familiar found its way back to me.

A Name with Teeth

Farmers used to call them thieves. “Lupine” comes from the Latin lupinus, meaning wolf-like. People thought they sucked the life out of the soil. The truth? They fix nitrogen. They grow in trash dirt and leave it better than they found it.

In Victorian flower language, lupines stood for imagination and resilience. Some cultures saw them as protection. Others planted them to scare off spirits. They’re hardy, useful, and beautiful, basically the full package.

More Than a Pretty Face

Of course, there’s a catch.

The lupines most of us see ( Lupinus polyphyllus ) aren’t native to Maine. They were bred for gardens out west and got loose. Now they grow wherever they want. They outcompete smaller native species like Lupinus perennis, and in some spots, they push out pollinator-friendly plants.

So yeah, they’re gorgeous. And yeah, they’re a problem. The kind you learn to live with, or at least admire from a distance.

A little wild, a little disruptive. Just like the state they’ve claimed.

🪻 Tuesday June 10th - Free Lupin Cutting @ Turkey Hill Farm | 5pm | Free 🪻

🌸 What’s Portland’s True Flower Icon?

If Maine had an official flower that wasn’t a pinecone (we know, we know 🌲), which one would it be?

The Oldest Apple Tree in North America Is Found on an Island in Maine
And it almost got forgotten.

There’s a tree on Verona Island that looks like it’s on its last legs. The trunk is hollow. What’s left is covered in moss, tilting, splintered. Most people would walk past it without a second glance. But that tree just turned out to be the only known Drap D’Or de Bretagna in North America—one of the oldest apple varieties on record and a genetic ancestor to the apples we eat today.

Verona Island sits just past Bucksport on the road to Acadia. It’s a quick blink if you’re not looking for it. But tucked down a dirt road in a field sloping toward the Penobscot River, that old tree has been quietly holding on for nearly 200 years. No sign. No plaque. Just surviving.

A few years ago, a group of Maine apple historians took a leaf sample and sent it off for DNA testing. What came back stunned them. It wasn’t just a rare apple, it was a one-of-a-kind. Long thought to be gone, it was somehow alive and growing in a forgotten corner of coastal Maine.

Now, it’s being preserved. Grafts have been planted in Unity and Palermo, a clone at MOFGA’s Heritage Orchard. and this fall, you might be able to taste one at an agricultural fair. It won’t be like a grocery store apple though, but that’s the point.

👉 Apple Discovery Announcement

🐾 Adoptable Buddies of the Week! 🐾

🐈 Ellie – 5 years old, longhaired beauty.
Shy at first, but once she trusts you, Ellie’s all cheek rubs and biscuit-making. Best for a quiet home with patient people. Total queen energy.

🐈 Maggie Moo – 1.5 years old, playful and sweet.
Still discovering her inner kitten. Affectionate once she knows you, and ready for her next adventure.

🐕 Rusty – 11 months, 47 lbs of gentle energy.
A little nervous, a lot of heart. Loves walks, playtime, and people who go slow. Great fit for an active home with older kids.

🐕 Interested? Check them out here