Blue Lupine seed

LATIN NAME: LUPINUS POLYPHYLLUS

COMMON NAME: Blue Lupine

The blue lupine beacons the tall, upright perennial with the bold, palmate leaves of the many narrow leaflets and the long, dense spikes of the pea-like, deep-blue to violet flowers that open from the bottom upward through the early summer, each spike standing like the beacon above the foliage, the hairy pods of the round seeds following. The plant grows quickly into the commanding clump, and it likes the sun, and the well-drained soil.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The nitrogen-fixing roots of the blue lupine give it a long place in the research on the soil-building perennials of the pea family, and the polyphyllus species appears in the studies of the cover-crop habit and the flower pigment chemistry. The work looks at the way the roots feed the soil, the tall, colourful spikes, and the seed biology. The agronomists value the green manures, and the growers of the meadow and the border perennials keep the species in their catalogues.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the sunny border and the meadow, the blue lupine beacons the summer border with the blue spikes. The flowers draw the bees through the early summer, the plant enriches the ground for the neighbours, and the lupines have served the green manures and the soil builders for the ages. It grows well in the well-drained, sunny ground. Bold, bee-fed and soil-enriching.

To grow the Blue Lupine from seed, nick the hard seed coats with the fine file, then soak the seeds overnight, sow them into the moist, gritty drills of the tray, keep the tray bright and lightly misted, and the seedlings break through within a couple of weeks.

Keep the tray bright and lightly misted, and pot the seedlings on as they grow. The beacons come within the season. Settle the young plants in the sunny, open ground, and the blue beacons will rise over the summer.