Lupinus diffusus
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Sky Blue Lupine
Fabaceae (Leguminosae)
Plant Specifics
| Form: | Flower | |
| Size: | 2.5-3.5 ft tall by 1-3 ft wide | |
| Life Span: | Biennial | |
| Flower Color: | Blue, lavender | |
| Fruit Color: | Green | |
| Phenology: | Naturally sprouts in autumn and blooms the following year in mid-spring. | |
| Noted for: | Showy flowers, Showy fruits, Interesting foliage |
Landscaping
| Recommended Uses: | Wildflower garden where it can be used as a specimen plant. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Considerations: | Hard to establish. Biennial, though may reseed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Propagation: | Seed. Known to be difficult to transplant especially if roots are disturbed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Availability: | Seed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Light: | Full Sun | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Moisture Tolerance: |
always floodedextremely dry |
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| (Short very dry periods ----- to ----- Very long very dry periods) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Moisture Tolerance: | Short very dry periods ----- to ----- Very long very dry periods | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Salt Water Flooding Tolerance: | Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Salt Spray/ Salty Soil Tolerance: | Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Soil or other substrate: | Sand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Soil pH: | Acidic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ecology
| Wildlife: |
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| Insects: |
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| Native Habitats: |
Distribution and Planting Zones
Natural Range in Florida
USDA Zones
Suitable to grow in:
10A 10B 8A 8B 9A 9B
USDA zones are based on minimum winter temperatures
Comments
| General Comments: | Given that this is short-lived (biennial) and difficult to transplant or grow from seed, this is perhaps best encouraged in places where it grows naturally. Minimizing competition from other plants, and perhaps burning the garden area, may be useful. This plant appears to have a seedbank with seeds that may sprout over an extended period of years if conditions are right. The range of this plant in Florida appears to be disjunct though how much of this is due to site conditions and how much could be an artifact of forestry practices is unknown. |