How to grow lupins

Now that the Chelsea Flower Show has come to a close it has inspired a lot of us gardeners to try something different in the garden. We had really good television coverage and no doubt we all had our favourite plants. However an old fashioned flower that received quite a lot of screen time was the lupin. We learned about George Russell who, after he retired, started breeding these plants, and finally after 25 years exhibited his much prized new ‘Russell’ strain of lupin at the 1938 Chelsea Flower Show.

You can still grow these magnificent flowers today as the Russell strain is still being developed. However, the modern varieties have much more vigour and disease resistance than the original. They are easy to grow from seed and sown now would be in flower by next summer.

Here we will look at how uncomplicated it is to have a garden full of tall stately perennially spires next year.

Soak the seeds in warm, but not hot, water overnight before sowing which allows the seeds to swell up. Next, fill a seed tray or pot with good quality seed compost and firm down gently. Scatter the lupin seeds sparsely and cover lightly with 3mm of compost or vermiculite. Stand the container in a tray filled with about 2cms of water and let the compost draw up the moisture. Remove from the water when the top of the compost has darkened and feels damp to the touch.

Let the container drain for a while then put it in a propagator with a lid, or enclose in a plastic bag and place on a warm windowsill. Germination takes about 20 days when the little seed leaves should appear. After another day or a two the true leaf will emerge and this is the time to transplant them individually into pots 7-8cm in size.

Grow them on in either a cold frame or somewhere light and not too cold, then plant them in their final positions in the garden, setting them out about 30cms apart in a sunny position.  But, don’t plant them until all danger of frost has passed. For a couple of weeks before you plant out your lupins, get them used to cooler conditions as it would be too much of a shock were you to take them straight from the warmth into the relatively cold of the garden.

Beware of the slugs as these pesky creatures can decimate young plants. Use either a slug trap or pellets where there are no children or pets, but the most ecological way of control is to carry out a slug hunt at dusk. They are quite easy to find and dispose of. Alternatively, many gardeners use nematodes, microscopic worms that search out and kill slugs efficiently. Whatever method you decide upon, be vigilant.

Not only are these flowers stunningly beautiful in a garden setting, they are also excellent flowers when displayed indoors. Cut them in the morning or evening out of the full glare of the sun, making the cut on the stem at an angle. Place the flowers in a vase of slightly warm water and cut the ends from the stems every three days to keep your lupins looking fresh.

Published May 26th, 2015 by Jordan. Article ref 3783

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