Lupine

When I was in Sweden in June, I was amazed to see the lupine along the road sides and in gardens. I am going to try to start from seed next spring.

Here is an example of what I saw.

I have lupine all in my lawn just growing wild. It never gets all that tall as the grass must be cut every now and again,but I try to hold off as long as possible...or until I surprise myself by almost stepping on a snake. LOL

I love lupines. They don't like being disturbed so make sure you put them where you want them. My mom found that out the hard way! She tried to move some small seedlings (only a few inches tall) and they died on her. They almost never survive being transplanted from the wild.

Oh, Birdsall, I adore the photo! Thank you for sharing the beauty of one of my favorite flowers :)

I have heard about how they grow wild in the upper parts of the world, but hadn't seen such a glorious show until now.

Just some FYI,
If you're planting the native lupine, Lupinus perennis, they prefer to live in pure sand, in fact, they pretty much require it.

The biggest problem you might have is lupines are one of the legumes and require a Rhizobium bacterium in the soil to attach to the roots so the plant can take nitrogen from the air to feed itself. If there have never been lupines in your area, you might not have the bacteria in your soil and you may need to innoculate the plants yourself or they will eventually shrivel up and die. It's a little hard to find, but you may want to search around for Rhizobium lupini innoculant for lupines. Good luck.

Lupines are also one of my all time favorites!! I started about 2 dozen from seed this year, and have about 24 small plants in a pot, will be putting those out in garden within next week or so, I also transplanted about 6 plants this spring and so far so good!! Another friend gave me some seeds of hers and I plan on putting them out for winter sowing, I would love to have those growing wild around here!!
You took a lovely photo!!
Hope you have luck with your seeds ~ Laurrie

This is a California native lupine. It is an annual and more "informal" looking than the perennial lupines. If someone would like to give it a try in another climate, I have enough seeds to send to two people in exchange for 49 cents postage. E-mail me if you are interested.

Kelli, you have mail :)

i would love some seed if you have enough. i just love the looks of it.

I don't have any seed left, but I hope to have some later this summer. Now if we would just get some rain, I will have a lot of seed.