How to grow lupines

Kat Fox

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Lupines like acidic soil and lots of drainage, so heavy clay soil just won’t do. These lupines are happily growing in hard-packed gravel.
Lupines like acidic soil and lots of drainage, so heavy clay soil just won’t do. These lupines are happily growing in hard-packed gravel.
Lupines like acidic soil and lots of drainage, so heavy clay soil just won’t do. These lupines are happily growing in hard-packed gravel.

Lupines are a perennial I always notice and admire, but I’ve had no luck growing them in my own garden. They grow abundantly on the east coast and in other places (some may say too abundantly), but they do have a few “special requests.” I decided to ask a friend of mine who has grown from seed for years in her Ontario garden for a few tips on how to grow lupines.

1) Lupines like acidic soil. Sphagnum peat moss, conifer needles, oak leaves, coffee grounds and ground sulphur will lower the pH of soil to some degree and help make it more acidic. However, I know gardeners in Ontario who have had great success growing lupines without ever purposefully lowering the pH of their soil (though they do add compost, which probably helps).

2) Lupines don’t like to be transplanted or have their roots disturbed. When growing  from seed, try biodegradable pots, like the ones made from peat, that can be planted with the seedlings inside, or try a tactic that my friend uses. She sows her lupine seeds in big, six- to eight-inch (15- to 20-cm) deep trays. When they’re ready to transplant, she scoops under the seedling to avoid disturbing the soil and plants them quickly in a hole that has been thoroughly soaked and has sand and/or gravel in the bottom. Which leads me to the next important tip….

Lupines like acidic soil and lots of drainage, so heavy clay soil just won’t do. These lupines are happily growing in hard-packed gravel.
Lupines like acidic soil and lots of drainage, so heavy clay soil just won’t do. These lupines are happily growing in hard-packed gravel.

3) Lupines need good drainage. Try planting them on a high site so water drains away and doesn’t sit around their roots, or add gravel to the bottom of the planting hole. They won’t survive in heavy clay soil that retains water, but they can grow in hard-packed gravel. When starting seed, some people use sand as their growing medium, or you can try a thick layer of vermiculite in the bottom of the pots or trays.

4) Lupines send out a long taproot, anchoring itself to where it’s planted. When a seed is started in a pot, the first thing it will do after sprouting is send a taproot out the drainage hole and form a knot, which you can’t disturb without potentially killing the plant. You can try starting seeds in deep trays with no drainage holes and lots of vermiculite and gravel to improve drainage around the roots, or try cutting the container off from the taproot before planting.

5) Tip #4 means that growing lupines in containers can be tricky. However, I like to tell myself that you can grow just about anything in a pot if you overwinter it properly, and after seeing it done successfully in the past, I placed my lupine in a deep pot this year, with lots of drainage.

6) Lupines will self-seed, and you can divide them in the spring, but not in the fall. If you wish to save the seeds to sow at another time, wait for the green seed pods to turn brown and dry out. You can then pick the pods and save the seeds within. If you wait too long, though, the pods will explode and release the seeds themselves.

 

 

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40 thoughts on “How to grow lupines”

  1. I planted several packets of Lupines this past Fall. In the late Spring only 8 of them sprouted, and I didn’t know about soaking or nicking the seeds before planting them. I’ve had one that survived but it only has leaves (lots of leaves!!). I’ve bought more seeds to try again next year. The owner of the nursery suggested that I put the seeds in the freezer until I plant / germinate them. When should I plant them inside to get them started? I live in IL and it’s cold and snowy until the end of April usually. Thank You for your feedback!!

    Reply
    • Lupine will unlikely flower the first year., especially if grown from seed. I seeded direct in my yard a few years ago. One plant grew, flowered the next year. I now have many growing by themselves and they have moved about 10 feet from where the first one flowered and are quite proficient and successful. Anecdotal I would say some of them do at least partly flower the first year. I’ve no notes. I live zone 3 Calgary and I do have heavy clay soil. And it is not acidic in fact extremely high alkaline. With some exception I only use compost no fertilizer.

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  2. I am returning from Maine, and couldn’t resist buying potted Lupine plants there to drive back home with me to Greenville SC.
    Any advise how to successfully keep them alive there ?
    In a big pot? Or in the ground ?
    Summers do get hot and humid !

    Reply
  3. Hi I live in Toronto and this spring has been very cold.
    I bought two lupin plants but they are still in their pots.
    I read the articles above about the root system.
    If I gently transplanted the lupins in containers Can I wait till they are more mature and
    plant them in the garden in the fall when I am ready
    I do not know where they would grow best and waiting till my
    bleeding hearts and peonies fill up the garden . since they are growing so well.
    can you advise me. thank you, Sandra from Toronto

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  4. I had a beautiful purple lupine for about 3 years.. Last summer was very hot . I assume that is why it died. Would watering it more have helped? My other one survived. Maybe it is one of the varieties mentioned above that do well in clay soil. I live in Ohio, US. Also, I took some fully formed seeds from my sister’s garden and waited too it turned brown. Can those seeds germinate?
    Linda, OH

    Reply
    • I think Lupins are typically a short lived perennial. In my yard I think they are mostly biennials. We are zone 3 here although my particular location is a 3b borderline 4.

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  5. I have seeds that I was given from PEI where the lupins are so adundant and beautiful:-)
    I live near Ottawa and am trying to decide when I should plant the seeds? Would you recommend that in this zone I plant them in fall or wait until the spring?
    Lupin expert advice welcomed 😉

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  6. I have had great sucess germinating lupins. I soked in water overnight and next day laid them between damp paper towels, put in a ziplock bag and put in the refrigerator. Checked then evry few days until I saw that roots were emerging. Planted in 5″ pots and they are doing very well. Will plant in sandy soil soon before roots het too long.

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  7. I live in poland. Last winter was minus 30. Before winter i cut my lupins that were shop bought right down to the base as i thought they would die anyhow covered in snow. Surprise spring came and the plants are larger and more vibrant than last year. More flowers too. I also have clay soil. I think its just trial and error? I am sowing some seeds today directly in the ground. Lets see how that goes? I did sow some indoors and planted them out they are still tiny but not dead so again lets see. I will comment after summer. These flowers are beautiful and everyone comments on them.

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  8. I bought 5 small lupines in our local nursery. They were in very small containers and the roots had gone round and round about the bottom of the plant. Before I planted them I removed the roots that were encircling the botton of the earth ball and then planted them. They looked fine for about 2 weeks and few beautifully. The weather in Israel was very mild in Oct and Nov. One of the plants suddenly died one day. The leaves just shriveled up. The others seemed fine. About 5 days later another one died. The remaining 3 plants look very good. Can you tell me why this happened? They have been planted in a large planter box with good drainage. and get full morning sun until about 1 p.m.

    Reply
    • Lupins do not like their roots to be disturbed. And you broke their original roots before planting. Hence they died

      Reply
  9. I have to started mini lupines from nursery. Both are growing. No flowers yet. However every morning n eve the leaves are open, middle of the day when they are in the sun @ 70°, the leaves curl up. I planted them where they would get both shade n Sun.I’m in the northeast. There is no sign of damage, they just curl n uncurl. Why are they doing this?

    Reply
    • Mine do the same – on warm days, when the sun is shining on them for several hours of the day, the spikes of the leaves will close itself and some will look wilted, but they perk back up as soon as the sun goes away in the evening. My plants were germinated from seed about four months ago and have been outside in the ground for two months (in Seattle).
      I haven’t been able to find any information about this. Maybe that means it is not something to worry about?

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  10. I brought at least 100 seeds back from Newfoundland last summer, dried them and put them in a plastic bag for safe keeping until now (April 28). Can I plant the seeds directly in the ground or do they have to be planted in pots first then once they produce plants, I then place them, peat pot and all into the ground? Is there a certain length they have to be before I can plant them? Thank you for your answer! Have a great day!

    Reply
  11. I have a well established bed of lupines. Typically I dead head the flowers and remove the seed pods but this summer was very hectic and I forgot about them. Now it is october, the seed pods have exploded, the stalks are about half dry with some basal foliage. They are a mess. I am wondering if I should cut them back or leave it until spring? Also, do you recommend mulching with peat moss in the Fall?

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  12. Good article, however is not true for a massive amount of Lupinus spp., such as the ones that grow in the southwest. There are annual species and perennial species. There are also species that only grow in clay. Good for species on the east coast, but try to find out exactly what species it is that you’re dealing with.

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  13. I have seeds and just moved to my new home. I’d love to plant some here, but it’s now late August. I’m in southwestern Ontario. Is it a good time to plant?

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  14. I have a couple lupine plants that were just gorgeous this Spring.
    When researching info re: lupines, I read where one should cut the seed stalks down to the end of seed stalk after plant is thru blooming. I did this (pods were green) and laid them out to dry. Do I let the pods dry out before removing the small seeds? If so, can I plant the seeds in my flower garden in the summer (like right now)? Or do I just leave the seed pods on the plant to fall wherever to germinate?

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    • I rec’d your reply to my question, but somehow lost it in the computer. Could you please reply once again? Thanks so much.

      Reply
    • Hello, Jolie: Yes, a light sanding, nicking or soaking of the seed will hasten germination. Lupins have a tough seed coat, and this scarification helps.

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  15. I find germination of lupines very easy. I place seeds in a cup of room temperature water for about 24 hours, then plant them in 3″ seed starter cells with coir (coconut shell) as the medium.
    Coir is great to grow seedlings because it retains water better than peat moss and is very spongy. I just planted in July NY 46 seeds in coir and 5 days later I have 36 sprouted.
    I saved all my seeds this year and have about 2,000. I want to germinate about 500 this week and if they winter outdoors under mulch to keep warm maybe I will be successful transplanting them next Spring into 5″ pots to sell at Nurseries. I need to know if planting them now in the ground will create a much deeper tap root than in a seedling pot, then transplanting from ground to large pot could be risky. Any thoughts on this out there?

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  16. I grow many lupins of many colours. However, they are on a hill, good drainage, and I am on limestone in Prince Edward County. They are beautiful.

    Hope

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  17. Hi Kat – I have just returned from Iceland where Lupines are everywhere. They help to break down the lava and deposit organic material so other plants can grow. A friend in Iceland has offered to send me some seeds from her garden. She says they are Alaskan Lupines. Is it ok to plant them here? I live in Northern Ontario.

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  18. I dig up and transplant mature lupines all the time and most of the time they survive and flourish. I live north of Montreal in Zone 3b. There were no lupines on or near my property so I dug some up from the wild about 15 km away and now I have hundreds of them (luckily I have a lot of space). Right now I am trying to create an all white lupine bed and the only problem I have (a big problem!) is the muskrat or beaver who has eaten almost the whole bed!

    Reply
    • Luana, an all-white lupine bed sounds beautiful! I hope that muskrat or beaver doesn’t ruin all your fun. Lupines must be tasty. -Kat

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  19. Thanks Olivera, you’re absolutely right that you should soak or nick lupine seeds before planting. Soaking them in tepid water overnight before planting has been suggested to me as a good option, as well. There are quite a few seeds that benefit from soaking before planting, in order to speed up the germination process. -Kat

    Reply
      • Hi Stephen. It’s generally best to plant in the spring and fall because of the cooler temperatures and increased rainfall, but if you’re going to move a plant in the heat of summer try to pick an overcast day, and make sure to monitor soil moisture. (This is the case for drought-tolerant plants, too.) It takes a year for most plants to get established. Another thing to consider with lupines is their taproots, which can really anchor them in the ground. You’ll probably have the best luck transplanting young lupines. -Kat

        Reply
  20. One important point that your article did not include, if you are trying to start growing this colourful perennial from seed, Lupines have tough outer coatings. This makes them take awhile to sprout. Before planting scratch the seed lightly with a pin or your fingernail. You can also soak the seeds in hot water for an hour or two before planting. This will make the seed quicker to germinate.

    Gardeners can ready their trowels midsummer and harvest new seeds and begin the process all over again, possibly in a new bed or location in the garden. The Lupine is easy to grow and surprisingly it is an inexpensive way of extending your collection.

    Reply
    • I learned a great way to stratify seeds. Make a small sandpaper tube, about the size of a roll of dimes or nickels, tape it so it won’t unroll. Plug one end with your thumb, pour the seeds in and plug that end with pointer finger. Shake the tube around a bit at different angles. Then do a 12 hour soak and plant them.

      Reply

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