Hi everyone, welcome back to the garden!
Now, growing lupins from seed can be a bit of a challenge, can’t it? You have to soak the seeds overnight, then wait and watch them grow, trying to keep them in good light so they don’t get too tall and leggy. And then of course there’s the hardening off before they can finally go outside.
It’s rewarding, but… let’s be honest — it’s quite a faff!
But what if there was an easier way?
A way that skips all those tricky early stages, gives you a ready-made little plant, and all you have to do is keep it watered?
Well, this is the shortcut nature gives us — and it’s something I look forward to every year.
When my lupins finish flowering, I often spot tiny baby plants growing on the old, dead flower stalks. In warmer climates, those little plants would drop off, land in the soil, and root themselves. It’s the plant’s natural way of spreading. But here in the UK, our cold winters and frosts usually kill them off before they get a chance to grow.
So if you see these on your plants — grab them! They’re your free, easy new lupins.
Here’s what you do:
Gently pull the baby plant downwards off the old flower stem. That’s called taking it with a “heel” — a small bit of the parent stem that helps it root better.
Then, pop the heel into a small pot of compost. Press it in firmly so it’s nice and snug, but keep the top bud above the soil.
If you’ve got a cold frame or an unheated greenhouse, that’s the perfect place to keep it for winter.
After about three or four weeks, you should start to see roots forming. By mid-spring, you’ll have a lovely strong lupin plant ready to go into the garden.
It’s such an easy way to get more plants — and it costs nothing!
Thanks for watching, and happy gardening 🌸
#gardeningtips #freeplants #gardening #flowergarden
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