I have a couple of lupine plants. They just completed their second year. The first year they bloomed they just got one or two flower stocks but this second year they had many more flower stocks. I don't beleive they are supposed to die after flowering. I read that if you cut the flower stock off after blooming but before the plant has completed making it's seed pods that it may bloom again.

Melba

mutton,

I don't believe there is any rule against posting your photos in this forum but if you are trying to identify your plants I would post them on the 'Name That Plant!' forum. That's what that forum is for and there are some really smart cookies on there that will help you.

Melba

I'm not sure if overwatering will prevent blooming, but it can cause the roots to rot. I have noticed that some poppies I water more regularly grow like short-lived perennials. They prefer well drained soil but they do ok in my yard which is mostly clay. They do fine in really lean soil as well. I'm actually afraid I may have too many poppy seedlings this year, I hope they don't drown the other plants out. I threw way too many seeds, too!

The lupines I have (L. densiflorus and L. arizonicus) are basically annuals. Some last longer than others. They produce so many seeds though, so it's fun for me to collect and replant as annuals in the Fall and Spring. They grow pretty fast if the slugs don't destroy the seedlings. There are some perennial Lupines, but the names escape me at the moment.

I have not seen poppies complain about too much water. They germinate with the rains and stay moist for four months. They start blooming in Feb and last through May if there is no waterr, and the year round with water.

As noted, most lupines are annuals. You can extend their life with added water, but not indefinitely. They will set seed and die (except the perennial, shrubby lupines).

You say you planted your seeds "mostly in spring" and I don't think anybody addressed that issue.

Both California poppies and our native lupines (both annual and perennails) are adapted to our cool, moist winters and are best sown in fall to grow through our wet late fall and early winter for bloom in late winter and spring.

Some California poppies, when sown in fall, can be extended into summer by an occasional watering. In fact, in many cases thay kind of become perennials (albiet short-lived).

When sown in spring, they don't do all that well (orange or red or any color). They haven't a clue what day od the year it is and don't bloom as they should (some do, most don't).

Annual lupines don't respond happily to pinching, deadheading, trimming, etc. When sown in fall, they get as bushy as they should. When sown in spring into summer, they end up spindly and minimally flowered.

NOW is the time to prepare your ground for sowing these seeds. And sown SOON.

Joe