The CalFlora database shows over 130 species of lupines just for CA, so it helps if know exactly which species of lupine you want to germinate. I've had sucess with both hot and cold water soaking, but if its more that 24 hours I find the seed so soft that it sometimes fall apart. Few CA species need stratification, but yours might. Like Al says, germination for me has been slow and variable, but I've had success both direct sowing and growing in flats.

Lupines aren't the easiest thing to tranplant, but from a pot should be OK IF you don't excessively disturb the roots. They are also pretty short-lived. To the OP, what I would really recommend is that you get yourself a packet or two of seeds and sow them in your autumn just at the time it's beginning to cool off (that would be late August/around Labor Day here in Michigan, assuming maybe a month later in Texas). Soak them overnight in tepid water, and then sow about 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep in prepared soil, keep moist. They will germinate in about 14 days, give or take. In your location, they probably will grow throughout the winter without any major setbacks. If you fertilize just a bit (yes, they are legumes, but they STILL respond to fertilizer such as Rapid Gro), they will bloom next spring for you. My self-sown volunteers that come up in fall always bloom the next spring.

kek, Glad to hear that you also ordered seeds from Prairie Moon. I think the Karner Blue needs some people pulling for it. I hate to see creaturs lose their habitats and it upsets me that we keep losing species...there are just so many people that I think it's pretty inevitable unless we somehow control the people population. It only makes sense that the more people there are the more land that will be dug up and paved over for more houses, malls, factories, stores, and other businesses. So nature ends up losing more and more. :( Anyway...I'd really be hopeful about getting the Karner Blue if I were you and had a sanctuary that close to me. I know, it's not like it's next door but still, I think 10 miles is pretty close and I would certainly be optimistic about getting them there someday. I would think that they're bound to find a person who is in the area, huh? I, on the other hand, am probably at least 100 miles from the nearest ones in my state, but I will still plant the lupines and cross my fingers. It's not like nothing else will use the lupines, and I think they'll be real pretty. I suppose I stand a chance of getting Karner Blues even if it is a kind of remote chance. After all, it's not like I'm planting a Eucalyptus tree to attract a koala bear. :-D About your garden design...I think that should turn out looking great and I love that color combination. I was thinking about getting a trumpet vine sometime because I'm also interested in hummingbirds. I got Cardinal Flower seeds and foxglove seeds just recently and winter sowed them and I hope that the hummingbirds will like them. Some people talk about getting a dozen or more hummingbirds, but I only ever see three here, probably the mom, the dad, and the baby. Brandy, Sorry for the misunderstanding. I went back and read it again and yeah, now it makes sense to me what you said and that you mean the KB Butterfly Garden that they're offering. lol I can be a dee dee dee sometimes. Ha. Anyway, yeah, I agree with you and looked and can't afford it either and that's why I bought a pack of lupine seeds and will plant those outside once April comes around. With these low temps we're having (right now it's 14 deg. here), I'm starting to wonder if spring will ever get here. Brrr, I can hardly stand to be outside for more than a couple minutes and that's it. Yes, you are cheating by getting plants. That's not allowed! ;-) I'm curious now if I'll have any luck growing the lupines since you said you had trouble with starting them from seed. I did try to start other lupines here last year and I didn't have any luck with them. I might end up buying some plants too if I can't start any either from seed. I wish I'd have the bed ready for the wild lupines but I don't. If it would be, I'd have considered sowing the seeds directly into the ground. Several people have said that they're fussy when it comes to being transplanted. I did wintersow my wild lupines just recently but they're in a container and will still have to be transplanted so I'll kind of be on pins and needles wondering if they'll "take". I will be extra careful transplanting them. I hope you have good luck with your plants. Oh, I wish I wouldn't have to wait until next year to see what mine will look like (assuming they'll grow this year). Uh oh, I bought sweet pea seeds and now am wondering if I'm going to have a problem with them taking over. Are they an invasive plant? Maybe I should have done more studying up on all of these plants that I'm going to have here. One that has me a little concerned in the Passiflora incarnata.

i checked that link ais posted more and it says the l. perennis are indigenous to this county (wake). so, they should grow here. still no info on soil preferences, though i'd guess lean and sandy more than clay based. then i could only find one source of semi- affordable seed. everyone else sold it by the 1/4 pound and it's expensive- guess it's used as a wildflower more than anything. i would love to try it out if anyone found a good source. i have about 1/2 of a packet left of 'wild' lupines i got from pinetree that are the originals that the russels were bred from (they're not l. perennis). that's what i figured you were talking about earlier, and since the russels only do so-so, i figured they'd be about the same. they did squat last year. i'll soak them and scatter them out this year again to see if they do anything. with the lack of rain i'm not very optimistic, though. i may try a few as container winter sown, but since they dislike being transplanted, i'm a little leery.