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Thursday - June 03, 2010

From: Hampton, NH
Region: Northeast
Topic: Propagation
Title: Planting Lupinus perennis and Lupinus polyfyllus together in NH
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I got a seed package with both Lupinous perennis and polyphyllus combined. Would they be okay to plant together in NH?

ANSWER:

Both Lupinus perennis (sundial lupine) and Lupinus polyphyllus (bigleaf lupine) are native to New Hampshire and share the same growing conditions with the exception that L. polyphyllus likes moist cool soils. Another difference appears to be the method of propagation. The PROPAGATION instructions for L. perennis say to sow in the spring and that they don't transplant well because of a deep tap root. The instructions for L. polyphyllus say sow seeds in the fall and divide the mature plants in the spring. If you Google propagation methods for each of the two species, you will find a variety of instructions. I haven't seen the seeds of either species, but I suspect that look very similar. If they aren't dramatically different, it will probably be difficult to successfully separate them so I would sow them together following the instructions on the package they came in and hope for the best.

Lupinus polyphyllus