Flowers From Seed: Lupins

I love lupins for many reasons. 

1. They are easy to grow from seed.

2. As you can see from the photo above, they are insect pollinated.

3. They are biennials so they do not flower until their second year. However the leaves are so attractive that even alone they aesthetically earn their place in the garden in the first year, and when they do flower in the second year, it is massively rewarding. They are tough enough in that first year to overwinter in the garden.

4. The flower spikes are majestic. They are reminiscent of the lovely foxglove and delphinium.

4. They often come in a mixed colour selection so waiting to see what shade blooms after a year is like waiting to find out the sex of your baby....kind of, a little.

5. They are legumes, like peas and beans, and like their frequently tinned relatives, they can take nitrogen from the atmosphere and secure it into the soil. Nitrogen is one of the three main nutrients required for healthy plant growth, along with phosphorus and potassium. This is a great reason to grow them in your vegetable beds, particularly with nitrogen loving plants like spinach, cabbage and broccoli.

Get growing lupins!