The Chatelaine Lupin Plants

Lupin The Chatelaine

Blooming in classic cottage garden tones, the majestic spires of The Chatelaine's pink and white pea-like flowers create vertical interest at the back of herbaceous borders. The pairing of pretty pink lower petals with a white standard petal above creates an interesting colour combination that never fails to introduce drama to traditional planting schemes. The Chatelaine is reliable and easy to grow, with densely packed blooms covering the entire flower spike.

Browse our other lupin varieties or all our perennial plants.

Great in your Garden

The bicoloured flower spikes work well with other traditional favourites in soft pastels such as bleeding heart, hardy geranium Walgrave Pink and roses like Bonica and Alfred de Dalmas. But planted en masse their pink and white flowers are beautifully highlighted against the undulating mounds of soft green foliage. Flowering from late spring to mid-summer, with the possibility of repeated blooms in early autumn, The Chatelaine offers sumptuous colour and architectural splendour before many other border stalwarts have begun to bloom.

If faded flower stems are regularly deadheaded, it will encourage a fresh flush of flowers in early autumn. Remove any untidy foliage throughout the summer to keep The Chatelaine looking at its dazzling best.

Features

• Colour: Vivid pink and white spires of bicolored pea-flowers
• Flowering: June - July
• Foliage: Soft mounds of mid-green large palmate leaves
• Cutting: Yes
• Attractive to Pollinators: Yes
• Height: 90cm
• Spread: 75cm
• Position: Full sun or partial shade
• Soil: Sandy, light, moist but well-drained, acid to neutral soil

Cottage Garden Favourite

Renowned Victorian horticulturist and naturalistic garden designer, Gertrude Jekyll, favoured lupins to create tall spires in early summer at the back of her border designs. She created a breath-taking lupin and iris border in the garden at her home, Munstead Wood. This experimental border was designed to reach its peak in June. Poet and garden-maker, Vita Sackville-West also valued the lupin, planting different selections throughout the gardens at Sissinghurst. In more recent times, Fergus Garret, head gardener at Great Dixter, uses lupins to fill the gap between their magnificent tulips and the summer dahlia and half-hardy annual displays.

Choose a semi-shaded or sunny spot for The Chatelaine lupins, preferably in moist but well-drained soil as lupins are intolerant of clay soils that become wet in winter. Water regularly until well established. Young plants may need to be protected from slug and snail damage.

Feed with a general-purpose fertiliser in spring and ensure plants get plenty of water in dry weather to prevent mildew. Check regularly for slugs and snails, and especially for aphid infestations. Rub aphids off by hand or use a jet of water. Cut away any badly affected flower spikes.

Remove spent flower stems to encourage a fresh flush of flower spikes in early autumn. Stake plants in spring before flower growth begins. Propagate by seed or from basal cuttings.