Lupin Noble Maiden is a beautiful white lupin variety. It's a very well-known perennial that looks and stands out beautifully in many a garden. The white flowers are surrounded by dark green leaves. This plant can also be used as a cut flower. It's a plant that always looks very nice in groups, in the border or alone. It can also be placed in large pots on the balcony or terrace.
Lupin is a member of the legume family (Fabaceae) just like beans, mimosa, clover, peas, broad beans, peanuts, and soya beans. Perennial lupin occurs wild in northwestern Europe. Lupin is native to North America. Lupines come in various shades of purple, white, red, pink, yellow and blue. As this plant is widely crossed, various combinations of the aforementioned colours are also possible. Lupines thrive best in acidic to neutral soil. Lupines can grow very tall.
Lupines can be sown or propagated by taking root cuttings. This involves cutting off a piece of the root and placing this piece in another spot in the soil. Sowing lupines can make for all kinds of fun, new combinations of colours. Lupines are able to fix nitrogen from the air, which they return to the soil. Because lupin seeds are rich in fibre and protein, they are used as meat substitutes for vegetarians. It's possible to be allergic to lupin this usually means that this person is also allergic to peanuts. This is why the food industry incorporates a lot of lupin flour in all kinds of products such as: pancake flour, snacks, pasta and biscuits. This does make it compulsory to state whether something contains lupin flour.
It's very popular with bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects. This perennial plant loses its leaves in winter. Depending on the variety, they can reach between 50 and 200 cm. Lupin blooms from June to October. Lupin is poisonous. These toxins are mainly in the seeds. Hardy perennial. Height: 80 - 100 cm.
Indoor sowing: February - March
Outdoor sowing: end of May - July
Germination: 14 - 21 days
Germination temp.: 18 - 21°C
Sowing depth: ½ - 1 cm
Plant distance: 30 cm
Sowing distance in rows: 20 cm
Plant position: sunny with some shade
Days till flowering: 60 - 90 of 320
Flowering period: June - October (2nd year after sowing)
Sow indoors in trays or outdoors under glass from February till March. Sow in trays filled with moist potting soil. Sow shallow and cover the seeds with a thin layer of soil. Lupin is a light germinator. Cover the trays with a lid to keep the moisture in. Keep the temperature as even as possible and don't let the temperature drop during the night. Keep moist and warm. Remove the lid when the seedlings emerge. Transplant the seedlings, when they're large enough to handle, to seperate pots. Harden the seedlings of by putting them outdoors in the sun for 10 - 14 days from the beginning of May. You can also put the pots in a cold frame from the beginning of May. Put them outdoors on a sunny spot with some shade from the 15 th of May (Ice Saints).
Sow outdoors on a well prepared seedbed from the end of May till July. Sow shallow and rake in the seeds gently or press them gently in the soil and cover with a very thin layer of soil. Keep moist and weedfree. Thin the seedlings to 30 cm apart, when they're large enough to handle. Put Your young plants on their defenitive spot from september on. Give the plants a sunny spot with some shade. The plants flower in the year after sowing. Lupin can be sensitive to mildew. This plant is attractive to bees and butterflies. Lupin is poisonous.
