If you have been enjoying the blooms on your lupins for a few years now then your mind may start to wander and wonder how much longer you will be able to enjoy this plant. After all how long do lupins last? Let’s have a look and find out and also see if there is anything you can do to make your lupins last longer.
How Long Do Lupins Last?
Lupins are not long-lived perennials, with great care and the perfect growing conditions they can last 10 years, however, expect most lupins grown in gardens to survive around 6 years.
When they start to get around 4-5 years of age you will notice the bloom size and number start to diminish. The pant begins to grow more woody and overall is much less appealing than a younger plant. For this reason, I usually grow and plan my lupins around a 4-5 year lifespan.
Always have a mind on growing new plants to take over the older ones in your garden. They are not a tough plant to grow so this isn’t really much of a problem at all.
Divide and Replant
Once your lupins begin to show their age you can still salvage them. Digging, splitting and replanting can revitalize your lupin plants and give you another 3-4 years of beautiful displays.
How to split lupins
Here is my quick guide on how to easily split your lupins in order to get brand new plants that are guaranteed to be the same color as the parent!
Give Them A Good Soak
Before digging your lupins give them a good soak, a nice rainy day is actually the perfect time to split a lupin as the rain will keep everything nice and wet for you.
Dig The Lupin Up
Dig a large area around the base of the lupin and gently pull it up, aiming to keep as much of the root structure intact as possible.
Wash Off The Soil
Then wash all of the soil off the roots so you can get a really good look at it.
Cut With Sharp Knife
Use a sharp knife to cut away a section of the plant from the outside edge.
Aim for something around 2 inches in diameter and choose a section that looks nice and healthy.
Plant Cutting In Small Pot
Plant this cutting into a small pot full of multi-purpose compost. You will want to give it plenty of watering and then move into a sheltered spot with plenty of light.
Move Indoors Or Into A Greenhouse
A greenhouse is perfect but if you don’t have one a sunny windowsill will work just fine.
Plant Out Once There Is Lots Of New Growth
Grow the lupin on in this spot until it has plenty of new growth on it, o
How to tell if my lupin is on its way out
When lupins are aging they will start to put out fewer and smaller flower spikes. You will also notice that they start to go a lot woodier than they once were. This doesn’t have to be the end though, try digging up, splitting, and replanting your lupin to reinvigorate it.
Growing New Lupins
If you have a lupin in your garden that’s getting old and you want to grow a new version of it then don’t grow it from seed. Lupins don’t seed true to color so the new plant you grow, even if the seed is taken from that flower, may not have the same colored flower.
Lupins tend to go more blue/purple if allowed to self-seed and do not grow true to seed!
So if you want to keep the same color then you have two options. You can take a cutting from the lupin and grow this, this will stay true to color.
Alternatively, you can dig up the lupin and divide the rootstock in order to grow more plants.
How Long Do Lupins Flower For?
Lupins are short blooming flowers. You will only get flowers for 2-3 short weeks before they begin to turn to seed.
You can prolong this by deadheading the flowers once they are done. This will usually give you a second flush of smaller flowers.
After this, the plant will definitely be done for the season!