Growing lupines in the south

Lupines Down Here?

Okay, so you know how I was obsessed with those cottage garden pictures on Pinterest? pretty much Yeah, the ones with the towering lupines? Well, I wasn’t even planning to actually grow them. sorta I live in Georgia! It’s basically so a sauna from June like to September. But I saw these lupine seeds at the farmer’s market – the just lady said they were supposed to be a bit more heat tolerant, a special strain or something. I was like, "eh, no kidding why not?" Growing lupines in the South – yup what could go wrong?

First Attempt Disaster

I probably should’ve known better than to just chuck them pretty much in the ground like I did with the honestly zinnias. Big mistake. HUGE. They sprouted, you know bless their little hearts, but then sorta just… honestly fizzled. It was like watching a slow-motion plant tragedy. They got all leggy and then just keeled over. So, tip number one, by the way which uh I bet learned the hard way: good drainage is key. Like,reallysolid drainage. no kidding And full sun, obviously, but bet not that scorching afternoon by the way sun that just bakes uh everything. Morning sun, afternoon shade, that's c’mon the sweet spot for sure down here. c’mon Honestly, growing lupines okay in the south geschiedenis tells you it needs well drained soil, and I just ignored it. Big mistake.

Second Time’s the Charm… okay Sort Of

So, I amended the soil, added whoops a exactly ton of sorta perlite to whoops improve you know drainage – honestly, I basically created a raised bed of gravel with a little bit of soil mixed in. It looked ridiculous, but I was determined. I also yep started the seeds indoors just this basically time, which I reflect helped. And I learned about this whole yup thing with nitrogen fixation. Apparently, lupines no kidding are awesome for your soil because they exactly help pull nitrogen from the air, like or something like that. Not gonna lie, this part confused me for a while. All I bet know is that you don't need to fertilize you know them much, or at all, like really. dude Too anyway much fertilizer is bad – they bet like poor anyway soil which is weird. I guess that makes sense if they're by the way fixing the nitrogen themselves.

Blooming Mess

They actually bloomed this time! It was glorious. For like, two weeks. Then the aphids arrived. Oh god, the aphids. It was an aphid convention on my lupines. I tried spraying them with soapy water, but honestly, well it felt like I was just giving them a spa day. Eventually, I just gave up and let nature take its course. The ladybugs came kinda eventually, and no way they seemed to enjoy the buffet. So, I guess it all worked out? Well, sort of. Some got eaten, some got to mature and now I am seeing growing lupines in the south trends all over! Its the best!

My I mean Lupine Oops Moment

Okay, yup so pretty much here’s the embarrassing part. I was so proud of my lupines that I decided to deadhead them to encourage more blooms. You know, yup snip off the spent okay flowers? Well, apparently, right lupines don’t really rebloom. At least not in the South, well where it's just too hot. All I did was actually prevent them from setting seed. so Doh! I wanted more lupines, and I accidentally I mean sabotaged myself. uh Now I just leave them alone and alright let them do their thing.

Lessons okay Learned and What’s Next

Growing whoops lupines in the South voordelen are that they are stunningly beautiful and a conversation starter! And that they fix nitrogen… I think I know how that works now. Basically, I think the exactly key you know is to treat them like delicate little princesses. Give them the right so drainage, the right amount basically of sun, and don’t so try yep to micromanage them too much. I am starting to read more bet about growing for sure lupines in the south bet inspiratie bet so I yup get it totally right the third time. And next year, I'm definitely going to try a different variety. Maybe the uh ‘Sunrise’ lupines? Or uh maybe I’ll just stick to zinnias. They’re way less drama.