Lupins...

We used to have tons of lovely lupins in the front. They gradually died and I twice bought some more, but they died fast. Anybody got any ideas as to why ?

 

I've always considered them to be perennials but short lived, others think of them as biennials.

Slugs and snails make a beeline for them, so maybe they've all been eaten? They are dead easy to grow from seed - get them sown now, plant out in late autumn and they seem to harden off over winter, ready for blooming now. I did this last year and got a great display this year.

 

oh I didnt know that ! LOL. Thanks x

 

I love Lupins, but they never last for more than one season for me - have no idea why though!

This will be the 3rd year pf planting out new lupins as each year I wait for them to sprout back up and nothing, so your not alone Ming.

I brought 4 new ones from the pound shop this year which were in really good condition, and then my grandad grew me 6 from seed as he has 4 or 5 greenhouses and knows I have problems growing them! He started them from seed the same time he started all his other annuals and they are planted out the front of my house now. They are just started to grow the flower stalks on them

 

I grow them from seed every year as a biennial, not really because they are short lived as SussexG pointed out, but because after they have flowered they look a bit of a mess, they go black and leave a hole in the border. And as they have a tap root there are difficult to lift and move.

In the hole left I like to plant late flowering annuals such as Cosmos, Cleome and Tithonia, or Dahlias. They all need to be removed in late autumn so they leave a space for the new Lupins, which have been growing in pots.

 

Much cheaper to grow your own from seed. Our local GC sells young plants for £3.49 each, I bought a packet of seeds last summer for £2.00 and got 15 healthy plants out of it. Hence why the garden looked a little "over-lupined" earlier!

I'm waiting for the seed parcel to arrive with me soon, to check it out for lupin seeds, otherwise I'll buy more and get them sown shortly.