When I was doing a recent check of the preserve, I found two unflagged lupines that appeared to be surviving seedlings from 2021's emergence that may have been overlooked in last year's surveys.
The reason they may have been overlooked is because they popped up farther west along the path north of the first planting area than is normally surveyed.
I flagged both of them and took the extra precaution of bringing stakes and surveying tape to mark the area where the plants are located to prevent them from being inadvertently being snuffed out by FWC contractors that run equipment through this section of the preserve for reasons I'm a little unclear about.
I also learned that funding for continued monitoring out here is up in the air for now/
There are still a few surviving seedlings from this year, which means they may be able to survive to flowering age. Most of them are at the edge of the planting area, not inside it.
Additionally, there are other plants in a supplemental planting area where most of the plants are protected from hungry Eastern Cottontail Rabbits by cages. Most of them appear healthy, though some are more robust that others. I encountered only one cage that did not appear to have a lupine inside anymore.
It will be interesting to see what the place looks like next winter when the new crop emerges.
