Lupinus Nanus Small Lupin Blue Annual Border Summer Flower
SMALL LUPIN
The small lupin, a most rewarding plant for a blue annual border, is one of my personal favorites. It adorns entire areas with its fragrant shade of blue, capped with yellow. The individual plants grow to 6-20 in in height, depending on the soil. In poor soil, they remain compact and particularly beautiful, and the foliage acquires a greyish-green color. Make sure you allow an adequate distance between the individual plants. Rob Leopold, the man who promoted the subtle new range of annuals, even plants them as much as 20 in apart, so that they can achieve their maximum spread. In that way, the lupins do not restrict themselves to single upright flower stems. Instead, they spread out into complex flowering organ-like structures and also go on flowering for a longer period. The flowers, however, come to an end after barely two months, and then the seed pods ripen. The seeds are quite easy to harvest. Sow them directly in the garden during the subsequent months of April and May for flowers from the end of June until far into August.
Lupinus nanus (“Sky Lupine”, “Field Lupine”, “Dwarf Lupin” or “Douglas’ Annual Lupine”), is a species of lupine native to the western United States. It grows naturally in chaparral clearings and along slopes in California, Nevada, and on Steens Mountain in eastern Oregon.
