A very beautiful and large flower is a perennial lupine.
Let's see what it is - lupine.
Botanical description
Lupine is a perennial plant Bean family. The roots of the flower have a core structure. They can go to the ground to a depth of two meters. Lupine roots contain nitrogen-fixing bacteria that absorb nitrogen from the atmosphere. Stems of lupine grassy structure. On the stem there are leaves. The branches of the plant grow up. The leaves are elongated, resemble palm. The inflorescence is a multicolored brush. Lupine flower perennial may have different colors, but most often blue, the flowers are arranged alternately. The bract is single, usually falls early.
Peas, beans, vetch, clover, sweet peas, yellow acacia, clover, and white acacia, as well as lupine, belong to the legume family, the main feature of which is the structure of their flower and fruit.
Flower beans (formations with seeds inside) do not ripen at the same time. With mechanical action, lupine seeds are scattered in all directions. Seeds have a rounded shape. The plant blooms in late spring - early summer. If the plant is cut before the seeds grow, it will bloom again. If you allow the seeds to grow, next year your flower garden will be replenished with new plants due to the seeds scattered last year (this is a self-sown flower).Did you know? The second name for lupine is "Wolf Beans"
Popular representatives
There are many varieties of lupine perennial. Consider some of them.
One of the popular varieties is "My Castel". The height of this plant is half a meter. Flower size is not more than 35 cm in length. The color of the flower is red. It blooms in early summer. If you cut the inflorescence, then re "My Castel" will bloom in August. 
"Faust" reaches a height of 0.8 m. The flower may have different colors. It blooms for up to four weeks, re-flowering is possible (if you cut the inflorescence before the seeds ripen).
"The Governor" - The leaves of this plant are located in the rosettes. Matte leaves, dark green. The inflorescence is a little more than 30 cm long, the color of the flower is most often blue-white. As with "My Castel", re-bloom is possible at the end of summer. 
"Abendglut" reaches a meter in height. The flower winters beautifully in our latitudes. The length of the inflorescence reaches 40 cm, the color of the flower is dark red.
"Minarette" - A variety whose plant height is 50 cm. The inflorescence can be of different colors: purple, caramel, purple and so on. It blooms in early summer. 
"Neue Spielarten" - a tall beautiful plant that can reach more than a meter in height. Flower brushes are large, up to 0.4 m. Flowers are orange-pink in color. Blossoms month, in June.
"Prinzess Juliana" - very similar to "Neue Spielarten", but the flowers are very beautiful, pink-white.
Where do lupins grow?
Planting and plant care are important for any gardener. Let's see what kind of soil and lighting is needed for perennial lupine.
Location and lighting
The plant is best planted in beds in sunny or slightly dark areas. Better flower grows in partial shade, therefore, it is good if an apple or pear tree grows nearby. In their shade the plant will quickly grow and will please you for a long time.
Balsam, tobacco fragrant, mimulyus, periwinkle, brunner, anemone, hellebore and fern, as well as lupine, prefer to grow in a flower bed, which is located in the penumbra.
Soil for perennial lupins
The flower grows on virtually any land, but loves loose drained soil. This is a very unpretentious flower. The plant can also grow on poor soils as a sidereal culture. Lupins like neutral, slightly alkaline and slightly acidic soils. If you planted flowers on alkaline soil, you must add 5 kg of peat to 1 m2 of soil, otherwise the plant will turn yellow. If they are planted on acidic soil, it is necessary to lime the soil with lime flour with the expectation of taking 5 kg of flour per 1 m2 of land. Lime must be once in four years.
Did you know? Americans eat pickled lupins.
Planting and breeding
Grow planting of seed, via grafting and division of the bush. We analyze all three ways. 
Growing from seed
How to grow perennial lupine from seed? It turns out not difficult. Plant cultivation from seed begins with the preparation of the earth. Takes turfy ground, peat, and sand. The ratio of peat and turf land should be equal. Sand should be two times less than other elements. Make sure that the water does not stagnate in the mixture: the mixture should be loose. Seedlings are sown in early spring in milk bags or crates. To grow perennial lupine from seeds, before sowing, mix seeds with pounded nodules and roots of dead plants for better assimilation of nitrogen.
Important! For the seeds to germinate at the same time, they must be covered with wet gauze and kept warm until they swell. After that, the seeds can be planted in the ground.
After 9 days, the first shoots will appear. In a month, the first half dozen leaves will appear. Now you can plant seedlings on a flower bed. The distance between plants should be at least 50 centimeters. 
You can sow seedlings at once, in the middle of spring in the ground on a flower bed, but then the place for them should be prepared in the autumn. After the seeds hit the ground, sprinkle them with peat.
Cuttings
For grafting plantings are taken only basal rosettes, developed from the bud on the stem (on its basis). In the summer, cuttings are taken, which are formed from the bases of the leaves. Cuttings are cut along with the kidney and a piece of the root collar and sit in the shaded sandy ground. This is done after flowering plants. After 25 days, when the plant gives the root, it can be transplanted to a flower bed. Flowers usually bloom in the same year. 
Dividing bush
This method is rarely used and not for all lupins (only for shrubs). This is due to the root system of the plant: the root goes very deep into the ground. A shrub of three or four years is taken and side branches are cut from it. To cut off the branches became a young shrub, the parent bush should not be old.
How to care for a plant
In the first year of life the flower does not need strong care. It is only necessary to remove the weeds and loosen the soil. The following year, in spring, you need to fertilize the land where lupine grows, using fertilizers: feed it with superphosphate (you will need 10 to 20 grams of this fertilizer per square meter) and 5 grams of potassium chloride.
If a plant has been growing for several years, you should pay attention to the root neck: if it has risen to the surface of the earth, the middle part of the plant may die. In this case, the side outlet will be separated. In this case, the lupine must spud. If the plant is older than four years, it is better to replace it with another. 
To flower bloom several times a year, inflorescences must be cut before the seeds are formed. It is not recommended to replant old bushes. If strong winds blow in your area, flowers should be tied up.
Now let's see what diseases this flower is ill with.
Diseases and pests of perennial lupins
Lupine is subject to various diseases. Consider some of them.
Root rot
This disease affects both the seedling and the adult plant. In young plantations, roots, stems, and cotyledons rot. Sprouts darken and die. Cotyledons in plantations are covered with wounds. In older flowers, the root and the stem perish. They do not grow and die. The causative agent of this disease is the fungus Fusarium Link. These mushrooms are formed during the rainy season. on the flowers in the form of light pink, and sometimes white deposition. Further, this plaque is compacted and turns into a tumor of orange or pink color. The mycelium quickly spreads through the diseased plant as well as to other plantations with the help of raindrops or wind. 
If lupine is planted on sandy soils, this disease can catch a flower at low humidity and temperatures of 20 ° C and above. If the soil is compacted, then the onset of air temperature from 18 to 25 ° C is sufficient for the lupine to fall ill.
Mushrooms are taken from the soil. They can remain on the remains of vegetation or on the seeds of plants.
If lupine is sick, up to 50% of all flowers may die. Prevention of the disease is the introduction of phosphate fertilizers.
Yellow lupins suffer root rot less than other counterparts. 
Fusarium wilt
This disease affects the flower throughout its life. Lupine leaves can dry out and curl. The upper part of the flower becomes drooping. If the plant is cut in half, you can see the darkening of the vascular system. The root system with fusarium wilt becomes brown and dies. During flowering, the fungus forms macroconidia and microconidia: thanks to them, the mycelium enlarges its borders. Macroconidia have sizes from 25x3 microns to 50x3.5 microns. Microconidia - unicellular with several partitions. If heavy rains begin after a drought, the mycelium begins to grow in size faster.
Mushrooms can persist in the ground for up to 6 years.
Phosphate-potassium fertilizers help lupine to cope with the disease. But an infected plant does not produce fruit. 
Brown spot
The disease affects both the leaves and the beans, as well as seeds and stems. Brown spots form at the bottom of the stem. Their size is up to two millimeters. On the sheet stains of dirty-brown color with a border of lime color are formed.
In more adult colors, brown spotting appears as red spots that have an irregular shape. The spot width is about one centimeter. Sometimes the spots merge. In this case, the leaves become a solid red-brown color. Then they turn black and fly around.
On seeds, spots reach two centimeters in width. They form a black coating.
The causative agent is Ceratophorum setosum Kirch. This fungus can remain on the remains of vegetation. Transmitted with seeds. 
Lupine can get sick in wet, warm weather. Lupine yield loss due to brown spot can be up to 30%, and sometimes more.
Gray rot
The disease appears on the bottom of the stem. Then it "occupies" the flowers and fruits of the flower. The tissues of the infected flower soften, a gray patina appears. At high humidity, the diseased plant covers rot.
During the dry period, the disease manifests as ulcers.
The fungus that causes gray rot is called Botritis cinerea Fr. The mushroom spends wintering in the remains of vegetation on the soil surface. It can winter in the ground at a depth of 5 centimeters, as well as on seeds. 
Important! Most of all gray rot is sick yellow lupine.
If flowers are not treated, up to 30% of the crop will die.
Drying of the stalks
The disease begins with oval dark spots on the stems. Further spots begin to increase in size. This is especially noticeable with high humidity. The entire stem is spotted with black dots. Next, it dries out. 
The cause of the disease is the mushroom Phomopsis leptostromiforme Bubak. Mushroom lives on dead plants.
Blackish spotting
Initially, the disease is visible on the lower leaves of lupine. Then she moves to the upper leaves, beans and the stem itself. The disease manifests itself in the form of gray spots measuring up to four centimeters. Then the spots become black, a patina is formed. During high humidity the disease progresses.
The causative agent of the disease is the mushroom Stemphylium sarciniforme Wiltsh. It is distributed using conidia. Conserved in the form of conidia and mycelium on plant residues and seeds.
The disease is harder in rainy weather. Often, flowers do not form beans due to blackish spotting. Up to 40% of seeds are affected during the disease. 
Rust
Rust develops from mid-July until the end of August. The disease manifests itself in the form of orange, and then dirty black spots on the leaves. Only the lower part of the leaf is affected. If rust is not treated, the leaves can quickly fall off.
The fungus that causes this disease is called Uromyces lupinicola Bubak. However, this is not the worst disease: it takes only 5% of the entire crop.
There are several rules for dealing with lupine diseases. First of all, you can not plant lupine more often than once every three years. It is most reasonable to plant cereal crops a year before planting lupine. The distance between lupine and other legumes should be about a kilometer. During the collection of seeds must be dried to 14% moisture. When planting, use phosphate-potassium fertilizers. 
In wet spring, yellow lupins are best sown with cereals. If the plant is sick, say, rust, it must be sprayed with a 1% solution of colloidal sulfur. Weeds need to be weeded. If autumn is accompanied by heavy rain, it is necessary to treat seed crops with the help of defoliants and desiccants. We also need deep autumn plowing of the earth and removal of plant residues from the soil surface.
Of the insects, the aphid is the most terrible enemy of lupine. Pesticides and insecticides are best used to combat aphids. Some insects (for example, a ladybug) or birds can also help you in fighting with aphids. To do this, plant in the garden fragrant herbs and nettles. There are also aphid remedies based on traditional methods of struggle (infusion of garlic or infusion of chopped tomatoes).
Lupine is a beautiful and healthy plant. Plant it in your garden and you will not regret it!
