I wintersowed lupines once. I think they were the Russell hybrids, but couldn't swear to it. They sprouted and grew well the first year. When they bloomed the second year the flowers were beautiful for a short time. After bloom, the foliage was butt ugly. They didn't like my soil or my climate, I shovel pruned them and fed them to the compost.
Lupins have long taproots, and I think they like well-drained acidic soil and cool climate. I don't have anything like that. My soil is alkaline clay and our summers are usually hot. Winters are cold and wet.
I'm not willing to be a slave to plants any more. If they don't perform to my liking within a few years they become compost food. There are a lot of things that thrive in my conditions, so I mostly stick to them. It's just so easy to toss something in the compost and wintersow something else to replace it in that piece of garden real estate... I do occasionally buy an actual plant that I want but I wintersow way, way more than I buy plants. I'm cheap too! And I never have lost that sense of satisfaction I get from growing seeds, especially the wintersown ones.
Karen
