Lupine is a pretty interesting plant. Firstly, it is very decorative, has an unusual shape of the inflorescence and is able to decorate any flower garden or garden with its bright colors. And secondly, it is also useful - lupine is used in the manufacture of medical products, soaps, cosmetics and even some plastics. In agriculture, lupine is a valuable syderat and forage crop. Let's find out how to grow a lupine flower.
Lupine - planting and care
First of all, we note that this plant is one-, two-, and many-year-old. The first is specially grown for animal feed and as garden species, the rest are more undemanding in care and are often found in the wild. In addition, hybrid varieties of lupine, colored in various colors, are also derived. The latter are actively used in landscape design: these are the varieties "Schlossfrau", "Lulu", "Edelknabe", "Carmineus", "Apricot", "Roseous", "Rubinkenig" and others.
Landing of annual or perennial lupine seeds in the open ground is not anything complicated, as well as caring for the flower. First you need to prepare the soil - acidify the peat with excessively alkaline soil or add dolomite flour to acid soils. Does not like lupines and heavy soils with clay and a close location of groundwater, but it grows well on sod-podzolic and sandy soils. Climb with lupine is best placed in the sun or in the penumbra.
Planting lupine in the fall occurs as seeds: they are sown to a depth of 3 cm, observing an interval of 40-50 cm between future shoots. In spring, you can apply a more sparing seedling method.
In the first year, lupines should be watered regularly. At this time, the aerial part of it grows slowly because of the active development of the root system. But starting from the second year after planting, care for lupine, multiplied by seeds, is reduced to loosening the soil and removing weeds.