• keywords: howtogrow wild lupine, alias perennial lupine, alias Lupinus perennis
• seedsfrom: Ion Exchange
• location: Chicago, Illinois, Zone5

Wild lupine in my backyard. This plant is prone to have light yellow leaves making me think it needs an acid soil however another one does not have the yellowish leaves.

I once got interested in lupines when I saw them growing wild in Eastern Canada, they were impressive. Whole fields were covered in purple and you could find them along the roadside or at the beach. I thought they were wild lupines but now that I have a few L. perennis going I wonder if the ones in Canada were Russell lupines gone wild because my wild lupines are fairly small and unimpressive.

Seeds require 10 days of cold treatment but watch them carefully because I had seeds sprouting before the 10 days were up. If you have fresh seed, seed taken from the seed pod just after it turns black and before they shrink you can plant them right away and they will come up in short order. It can take 2 or 3 years before they bloom.

Wild lupine is native from Minnesota to Eastern Canada and down to Florida. An endangered butterfly, the Karner blue butterfly depends on wild lupine as a source of food for the caterpillars. See for instance:

• Karner Blue
• Karner Blue Butterfly