how to keep my Lupins well

Discussion in 'Annuals, Biennials, Perennials, Ferns and Bulbs' started by vicarious1, Jun 2, 2009.

  1. vicarious1

    vicarious1 Active Member 10 Years

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    Hello,. I have two groups of multicolored Lupins I planted 2 years ago. This is the 1st blooming and it is vigourous. I want to know Must I SUPPORT Lupins with sticks? Do Lupins bloom more than once or only 1x in spring? Once they have bloomed what to go with the green ? Cut it back or lave it till enf of the season?
    LUPINS were my grannies favorite thats why I planted them I saw them as a child living in Austria but I never grew Lupins myself so would like to know how to care for them the best. Do I cut the flowers once they are dry? Will that push for more bloom? Thanks for any advise .
     

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  2. Debby

    Debby Active Member 10 Years

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    I have limited experiences/success with lupins, but I know that one should keep cutting the spent stalks--cut as soon as the blooms at the top have opened; otherwise energy is going into seed formation. I don't think lupins bloom over a long period.
     
  3. Barbara Lloyd

    Barbara Lloyd Well-Known Member

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    vicarious!,
    I've never grown Lupins. Didn't have to as they grew wild along the roads in the San Juan Islands - mainly Lopez. I don't know how long each plant lives but they come up every year in the same color that was there the year before..
    Google - Texas bluebonnets and look on the wikipedia site and several of the others listed. Also look up Lupine and you'll get all kinds of great info....barb
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2009
  4. soccerdad

    soccerdad Active Member 10 Years

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    I have grown them for some years. It is totally unnecessary to support them at all.

    They bloom once and then they are finished for the year.

    Cut off the dead parts just because they look so lousy.

    Mine have been blooming for about a week.

    They will be finished by the end of June - maybe long before the end.

    As far as I know, "Texas Bluebonnet" is also called lupin but has no similarity to the lupins that gardeners in Canada grow. But I will defer to more knowledgeable people on that one ...
     
  5. vicarious1

    vicarious1 Active Member 10 Years

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    Thanks how long will they bloom and after blooming do I simply cut them to the ground ? So many leaves on the bottom of the pack are lying flat on the floor ...I am trying to collect all the seeds now when can I plant them again ? thanks Vic
     
  6. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    It is a species of lupin Lupinus texensis. That it looks different shows the some of the range of variation between different species in the genus, but it does share the same overall structure, with digitate leaves (5-7 leaflets) and erect flowering spikes.

    For a rather more strikingly different lupin, try Lupinus arboreus from California - that's a 1-2 metre high shrub, with pale yellow flowers.
     
  7. kaspian

    kaspian Active Member 10 Years

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    Vicarious, you should keep in mind that lupines tend to be short-lived perennials (in some cases they behave more like biennials). Because of this, most folks here in Maine seem to leave at least a few of the plants undisturbed to produce seed and scatter them around, so as to ensure more lupines next year. Here, they just flower once, around the summer solstice, and the blooms only last a couple of weeks.

    If you collect seed by hand, I would plant it right away. That's what happens in nature. The young rosettes of a baby plant are quite pretty and somehow exotic-looking.

    As years go by, and the original plants are replaced by new generations of seedlings, the colors seem to drift back toward the softer purple-mauve-pink shades that occur naturally, with an occasional white, which is nice.

    I personally find the plants, after they've flowered, to be unattractive, with their blackened seed pods and shriveling, browning foliage. To me they look best in a wild or semi-wild setting, surrounded by other plants that will fill in later in summer to mask the fading lupine foliage. That way, you can just leave them to ripen their seeds without fussing over them.
     
  8. vicarious1

    vicarious1 Active Member 10 Years

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    thank you.
    Today I have trimmed all the small leaves that seem to fall to the floor to extend energy to the others
    I have and am collected all the seeds i hope they are ripe enough as they seem to fall suddently when I am not there
    they are green hairy pods ..I will plant them in different areas I have about 250 day lillies in hedges and will try to mix them as they flower later on and have all the green leaves . I will simply cut all the leaves back when the flowering is done . I have plantes sunflowers very close that are now about 5inch an will outgrow them fast.
    I have been told when one collects the seeds they keep the colors . Self seeding makes them go to pale again..
    Well one always learns ...thanks for writing!
     
  9. The Hollyberry Lady

    The Hollyberry Lady New Member

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    Well I must say vicarious1, that those pictures are stunning! I love your beautiful yard. I have never grown lupins before but after seeing those pictures, I am running to my fridge to germinate some of the lupin seeds I have tucked away.

    Wow - those are so fabulous! Thanks for the great peeks.

    : )
     
  10. vicarious1

    vicarious1 Active Member 10 Years

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    I am collecting many more from all these blossoms I can send you some later on ...the numbelo has sprouted and is planted in a big decapitated 4l milk jare with earth bottom and now is in the garden..
     
  11. The Hollyberry Lady

    The Hollyberry Lady New Member

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    Oh my goodness that's wonderful news Vicarious1! Good luck.

    : )
     

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