Lupins galore!

[Compo 10,328]

The garden lupins are now in full flower:

The mini-meadow coming into flower:

The hostas are looking quite good too:

[Fynger 841]

[darkazana 1,736]

My lupins are just going to seed, much to the delight of the sparrows who spend most of the day among them.

[katyjay 5,090]

Lupins and Hollyhocks, to me, say 'English country garden'

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

Lupins are native to my part of the states, the road sides are covered in them this time of year..

[darkazana 1,736]

Not got any hollyhocks, they won't grow in my garden for some reason, but got a loverly display of delphiniums, snapdragons (or antirrhinums) and foxgloves at the moment.

[StephenFord 866]

Haha - not many know how to spell them there aunty-rhino...anti-robot...err snapdragons...darkazana gets a gold star!

[piggy and babs 544]

we went last week to snibston discovery park fishing ponds there wild flower meadow looked very like your second picture are the little purple ones wild orchids compo yours looks so natural

[piggy and babs 544]

theres also had lupins in it but they were still quite small when we saw them

[banjo48 928]

When we first arrived in West Oz, i was amazed to see lupins everywhere jumping (not literally) out of the ground, after the winter rains. They just pop up over night as seedlings even on the most unlikely spot.

The seeds must lie dormant in the dry ground awaiting the moisture from the rain.

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

I remember Lupins (as well as other wild flowers) growqing wild at the side of railway lines.

[Compo 10,328]

Babs #8: They are Northern Marsh Orchids.

[Karlton 582]

nice lupins and hostas Compo. 14 years ago at my place i split a small show of blue agapanthus, set this side of a west wall, the most I had was 140 but this year ive counted 300, can't wait for the big blue heads to show through, although it looks as though some of the heads might be a little smaller probablly due to the amount do you think? When they bloom, which looks to be in the next two to three weeks, i'd like to put them on a photo as you tourself has done. but i'm afraid i haven't the experience to that just yet. NICE LUPINS AND HOSTAS.

[Compo 10,328]

Karlton: Here's how to put a picture on here.....

1.Save your photo to a website eg Picasa or Photobucket.

2.Copy the photo url in the website. (ctrl + C)

3.Click the square with a picture in it on the toolbar above your reply. (Just to the left of <>)

4. paste your url into the box that opens when you do 3. (ctrl + V)

5. Click "OK" and your picture will; lappear here. Then click "Post"

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

I meant to go down the driveway today and get some photos of the honeysuckle growing wild around the place, too late now, looks like the rain is nearly here.

[plantfit 7,580]

Cracking show last year, grown from seed the previous year, most of them were over six feet tall, you can just see me standing behind them, as with my other flowers I cut them to ground level when they've finished and leave them over winter

 

 

Rog

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

Lupins always remind me of a friend I had in childhood. She lived five doors up the road from me and the only things that grew in the family's garden were lupins!! I think they selfseeded from year to year until the entire garden, front and back, was full of them. They are very colourful, though, and make a splendid display. Can't see a lupin without thinking of Margaret!

[plantfit 7,580]

27 minutes ago, Jill Sparrow said:

Lupins always remind me of a friend I had in childhood. She lived five doors up the road from me and the only things that grew in the family's garden were lupins!! I think they selfseeded from year to year until the entire garden, front and back, was full of them. They are very colourful, though, and make a splendid display. Can't see a lupin without thinking of Margaret!

Funny how things from the past remind us of certain people/friends from our childhood, every time I see Hollyhocks they remind me of a girl I fancied who lived down the bottom of Churchfield road when I was about five years old, I posted a story about it in a Radford topic I think it was

 

Rog

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

Great Aunt Lily's garden was full of rhubarb! Nothing else, just rhubarb. Again, it spread from year to year.  My sister and I used to walk to Great Aunt Lily's house on Reydon Drive most Sunday mornings while my mum was preparing lunch.  From her kitchen window, we could see Puffing Billy and there was always Two Way Family Favourites on the radio. When rhubarb was in season, we were never permitted to go home without a huge newspaper parcel full of the stuff.  To this day, I can't abide rhubarb although it's brilliant at cleaning burnt saucepans!

[MRS B 513]

Is it really Jill? Do you just rub it on the saucepan? Not that I regularly burn them, I just have one that’s a bit prone depending on what I’m cooking in it. Does it work on all saucepan types? 
Mrs B

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

Rhubarb, especially the leaves, contains oxalic acid. It's potentially nasty stuff but can be a useful stain remover and brings up burnt stainless steel pans a treat.  

[LizzieM 9,507]

We’ve never been successful growing lupins, they seem to attract greenfly, wherever we’ve lived.  Despite that I do love to see them growing in the borders, and persevere every year.  

[DJ360 6,721]

Don't  give up Lizzie. I've lost a couple of Lupins to the massive blue/grey aphids which specialise in killing Lupins, but I've also seen them off. You need to spot them early and kill them with a decent insecticide. I've had to treat some plants daily for about a week to beat them, but it's doable.