Garden lupin
A showy garden lupin; no nectar but plenty of pollen. It escapes and invades meadows in northern and central Europe.
- Nectar
- None
- Pollen
- Good
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 0.8-1.5 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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The garden lupin is a perennial lupin from western North America, loved in gardens for its colourful spikes. Its flowers are nectarless; when a bee presses on the wing petals, pollen is pushed out like a piston. Bumblebees and honey bees collect plenty of pollen from it, but it does not contribute to honey production.
Flowering
It flowers for about 4 weeks from June to July; if the first spikes are cut, a second flowering may follow in late summer.
Honey and pollen
It gives no honey. Its pollen is useful for colony development in early summer; the colours may vary with the garden variety.
Note for the beekeeper
It is an invasive species spreading along roadsides and into mountain meadows in Germany, Scandinavia, the Baltic states and New Zealand; by enriching the soil with nitrogen it pushes back native meadow flowers. It should not be sown deliberately for bees, and in gardens the faded spikes should be cut before they set seed. The seeds contain alkaloids and are not edible.