I've never done them from seed, but I must admit - I wouldn't be sowing in late winter/early spring and expecting them to be flowering the same year. They're not like annuals. I'd do them outdoors in May/June or similar, so that they were well grown enough to overwinter for the following year. Many perennials are the same.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I've only grown lupins from seed once, and they were from seed that I collected off one of my plants and sowed straight away so it would have been probably August/September. They sat in a sheltered spot outside all winter and they had germinated and got some true leaves by the time I checked in the spring, so I think I'd try it the same way with seed from a packet.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I sow mine in the summer and over winter them. I've tried sowing in Autumn and they damped off, I've tried in spring and they got sickly indoors and chewed by slugs outside.
The seedings from experience are finicky and like good light and plenty of air. Once they mature a bit they are much tougher and can be left in their pots through the elements.
I sow lupin seeds in June and overwinter them in an unheated greenhouse. You have to be careful with watering and guard against slugs. Otherwise, they're easy.
I've got a seedling coming up in the garden which I didn't plant - two years ago I had quite a few outside so it must be from then, but it's doing well. The ones I grew last year for the most part did manage to flower the same year, sowed at the start of March. I found them easy to grow initially, the issues came once the aphids arrived
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S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
The seedings from experience are finicky and like good light and plenty of air. Once they mature a bit they are much tougher and can be left in their pots through the elements.