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Lupins
geum keenbutgreen
Posts: 508
in Plants
Hello all! I have quite a few lupins in my garden (inherited), and they flowered well this year.
However, since flowering the majority of them have crashed - the stems have broken fairly low down. I'm not sure if this is normal, or if the big rainstorms we had recently contributed to this.
I've had to cut off the flower heads at the stems just below where they've broken.
So, is this what would normally happen, or just unlucky due to the weather? I didn't stake them as prior to this, during flowering they were really sturdy and supported themselves well without leaning at all.
Thanks!
0
Posts
I cut the flowering spike off (about 6" below bottom of bloom) as soon as the flowers are finished. Then (hopefully) we may get a second flush of bloom. This also helps prevent heavy rainstorms from bashing them about quite as much and splaying open the stems, which is what I presume has happened. I also use wire plant supports (the circular ones) which I place over the lupins as they start to grow - these are soon hidden by the foliage and give really good support.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thanks Dove - I think I must make sure I put those supports in next year! I didn't worry about it as they were so solid... but I didn't think about what the weather might do to them.
Lesson learnt!