Lupins. Where have they all gone?
By Colmuc
@Colmuc (707)
June 2, 2009 6:16am CST
Fifty to sixty years ago almost every garden where I lived in Scotland had lupin plants in several shades. Where I live in South Germany they are almost unknown and I have never seen any in a garden except for my own. I grew mine from seed about six years ago and they get bigger and stronger each year. They continue flowering over a long time if the dead flowers are removed before the seed forms.
To me they are an attractive flower and always so colourful in May when the spring bulbs have gone and the summer flowers are not yet showing. Does anyone else grow them?.
I have attached a picture of one of my plants which has already been flowering for four weeks.
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2 responses
@Colmuc (707)
•
2 Jun 09
Hi Lakota,
Some years are bad and some are good but what I think is important, is having good seed of the right variety from a reliable supplier. I always buy my favourite varieties from Thompson & Morgan. I think they have an Internet ordering system covering USA. Not the cheapest but I think they are the best and I have been a customer for almost 50 Years! I bought the lupin seeds from them and they flowered the first year.
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@thinkingoutloud (6127)
• Canada
2 Jun 09
Lupins are really beautiful, I agree. My ex mother-in-law had a circular garden bed that was just filled with a variety of colors. They seemed to be going strong... or they WERE the last time I had contact with her. Funny how some plants seem to "fall out of favor", isn't it? For instance, around where I live (I'm Canadian), dahlias were incredibly popular. I remember my parents planting them all the time and they particularly favored the solid red, medium sized ones. They were always good producers. Then, for years, I never saw anyone planting dahlias. For the first time, this year, I saw some pots of a sort of variegated variety at the stand where I buy my plants. Maybe they'll become trendy again. In any case, I've thought about putting in some lupins where I live now but haven't decided where I would create a bed for them. To me, they do seem to be a plant that makes a better showing if there's a fair amount of them.
@thinkingoutloud (6127)
• Canada
3 Jun 09
I'm really going to have to consider lupins for next year... since I gave up my biggest annual flower bed to go back to veggies this year (with the economy and such, it seems sensible to be using the space for something consumable, you know?), I'll probably be adding a couple of beds for flowers next year. When I lived in the country, I favored cosmos, black-eyed susans and such... lupins, in my mind, would fit in nicely.
Did you ever grow the dinner plate dahlias? I've seen pictures of them and they sure are beautiful but I've never known anyone to actually grow them.
@Colmuc (707)
•
4 Jun 09
I have never tried the dinner plate dahlias but did have some really big blooms in 1989 that attracted the whole village. I bought the tubers in UK. Never had good results with what is available here.
If you go for lupins next year check out the Thompson & Morgan on line seed catalogue. They have mini varieties that will flower the first year.
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@Colmuc (707)
•
2 Jun 09
Hi thinkingoutloud, Nice to hear from you. Strange that you mention dahlias. I used to grow some beauties up until I moved house in 1991. Have never tried them since.
I like lupins as individual plants but several in a bed with one to two yards between them. I have only three different colours so will maybe buy some seed again next year.
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