Lupinus perennis, Wild Lupine


Wild Lupine growing in a sunny field on the Anoka Sand Plain.

Wild Lupine does well with the right conditions and those conditions are fairly simple: sand and sun. If you give it a whirl in clay, overly moist, or highly organic soils, it might live for a bit but then disappear. That said, I'm not thoroughly against trying if you work up the soil with coarse sand and gravel, and some oak leaf mold for organic matter -it could work, but no guarantees. It's a beautiful plant that is picky about its soils and therefore is the number one plant I tell potential buyers to put back :-).

Blooms: blue-purple and white, late May into early July

Height: 18 to 24 inches

Conditions: sun to pt sun, well-draining medium to dry, sandy or gravelly soils

A colony of Wild Lupine at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve.