Lupine - Lupinus species - How to grow Lupines
Tips, Tricks
The Lupine in one of our Iris beds is in full bloom, and it is indeed magical. While not fragrant like many of the Irises, it is a structural entity in the garden, even when not in bloom. The lupine is also a member of the Pea family, Fabaceae, which makes it useful as a cover crop, as forage and also as a companion plant to be intercropped with cucumbers, squash, broccoli, spinach and others. The flowering or horticultural Lupine is a perennial plant, although among the almost three hundred species there are a few outlying woody trees and shrubs. Many treat Lupine as a biennial because they seem to die out after flowering the second year. Some varieties are more reliably perennial than others, so look for that when purchasing. Lupines do best in full sun, in well-drained average fertility soil. One can start seed (my preferred method) or you can find them at the better nurseries in pots for sale usually in spring. Again depending on the species and variety, the flower color can range from yellow to blue, salmon pink to purple and almost red. Most of the types available as horticultural specimens are in the cooler range of purple to violet. The height is in the two-and-a-half to three-foot range when in flower, with multiple flower spikes emerging over a ten day to two-week period. Lupine flowers are not the best cut-flowers, but I have found if you cut them when no more than a third of the flowers have popped open (they open from the bottom of the flower working upwards), then they will last for several days in the vase. They are an unbelievably striking focal point in a large vase with just some fern leaves around the bottom. The genus name Lupine comes from the root word lupinus, Latin for wolf. Lupine as an adjective also means savage, ravenous and predatory, all connected with the wolf. This may have something to do with the propensity for some species to become invasive, as on the South Island of New Zealand where L. polyphullus has covered stream banks and roadsides. The native Bluebonnet in Texas is a Lupine species L. texensis, but of course its predominance is welcome there as part of the spring display and indeed a deserving focus of festivals, tours and other events. Easily started from seed, it is best to start lupine seeds indoors in late winter, allowing them to grow to a nice sized plant before setting out in spring. They prefer good garden loam, a sunny location and adequate moisture while growing. After they have flowered, they tend to go dormant and therefore don't need the rainfall that a vital plant would. That being said, by dead-heading (removing the spent flowers before they set seed) and by watering and lightly fertilizing them, they will re-bloom but more sparsely through the summer. There are not a lot of worries with Lupines, but I have noticed that aphids like ours. I wash them off with a stream of water every day or so, and they seem to get the idea that they are not wanted. They don't disappear, but they do make themselves less obvious.
Comments
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Have you tried harvesting the seeds from native plants? I've got two that have sprouted and I'm not exactly sure what to do with the little guys now. Any suggestions?
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I'm growing this plant from seeds... Beautiful flowers
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Appreciate your vid. Do you have another vid describing best time to cut foliage back after flowering? And the soil or maintenance ie. fertilizer vs compost.
Also, I'm in region 5/6 and I've noticed a couple of times over a few years, I was sure it was going to flower again but did not.
If it is flowering in late vernal equinox with light durations of 10-11hrs, and summer ends and days become shorter we also hit the 11-10hrs range at autumnal equinox. My Christmas cactus blooms twice, once each side of the winter equinox, the lupins bloom on both sides of the summer solstice. In both cases the first efflorescence is the best.
Have you notice this? -
Is it a perennial?
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I'm searching for information on edible Lupines with no success however, I did find your video helpful. If you haven't done a video on the edibles please do consider it. Thank you!
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great video, thank you for sharing
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Hi.. I live in Michigan and planted lupines this spring. I have read so many different things about dead heading them that I am now confused ! Should I do it or let the seed pods form ? They all have pods now. Should I let them go or cut them back ? Will they bloom again this summer ? Thank you !
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in Sevilla they serve lupines in bars when ordering beer, specially in summer; they are delicious....
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What do u do in winter with them ? Do you cut off the old flowers and just leave the leaves ?:)
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Nice!
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Are you sure there is only one tree??? The laburnum tree is in the pea family and is from Europe. In fact there are two distinct laburnum species so thats two more trees to your list!
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I have alkaline soil, can´t grow lupines :(
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Thank you. I'm looking for just the blue lupine, as you've got there, and not the multi-colored russell (sp) hybrid kind. Will the blue ones bloom the first year from seed?
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Sounds like you've tried most tactics but there's a slug and snail management checklist here at UC Davis web page - http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7427.html
At home I've installed a small fish pond that attracted frogs and they seem to do a pretty good job of keeping the slug population down. PV -
any tips on how to protect these from slugs and snails? we live in Washington state where spring is very wet, as well as summer. we have four lupine plants in a big bunch. the slugs absolutely destroyed them!! we tried everything we could think of. from copper tape to poisons. finally we cut them back to the ground just last week. thinking with the dryer weather they might come back without the slugs being quite as bad. thoughts?
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beautiful, thank you.
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WoW!very nice. Blue and whit I Love you.Amazing Flowers, Consider the lilies how they grow,they toil not,they spin not,and yet I say unto you , Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. LUKE.12,27
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