LUPINS

Hi, Ive grown from seed this year around 30 Lupin plants. I understand they will flower etc next year although a few are flowering now. What should I do with them over the winter? They are in pots outside at the moment, should they be placed in the ground in the final position now? :cnfs:

 

I will be potting mine on in a few weeks and the i shall tuck them away in the pots in a sheltered spot until spring,

 

If they are starting to flower now they are big enough to be planted outside. They are hardy plants and will do much better planted out than kept in pots til next year.
Best to remove the flowers once over to prevent loss of energy with seed formation

 

I sow mine now and plant out in early autumn.

 

Thanks guys what agreat site this is!!

cheers

 

I don't plant anything out this time of the year because of the effort to get water to them during the dry (Hopefully!) months. But my garden is large, so that advice may not be appropriate for folk who can nurture their plants relatively easily. Best to get them well established before the Winter and then they should be off to a cracking start next year.

I keep all my "nursery" plants near the greenhouse where I can easily water and feed them, then plant out in the early Autumn (when there is still warmth in the soil, but less heat during the day).

 

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Lupins are very deep rooted plants, they are much better planted into the ground than left in pots!

They are also with me anyhow short lived, they flower well the season after planting,if left another season they are disappointing.

So I have them out.

As I never have any success in taking cuttings of any special ones, I save and sow some seed each season.

Hope this is of help!

 

Garp - yours should be perfectly hardy. I also grow them each year from seed sowed in March, and plant out in late autumn. As others have said they don't want to be planted too late - as they will want to be making growth pretty early next year. I plant them as late as the autumn, because after I remove the old plants at about the end of June, I replace them with something giving late summer colour, such as Dahlia, Cosmos or Cleome. That way I get a double shift. But the space isn't available for Lupins again until late in the year.

If the ground is bare, I would plant them as soon as possible. But as Kristen says you need the weather and the soil to be right. Ideally you want a dull cloudy period after a good downpour. You will still have to keep watering them, but you would have to do that if they are in pots anyway.

 

Thanks all, really helpful comments!!