 Russell's work has inspired others, and new generations of lupins are being produced by new generations of enthusiastic gardeners. Johnny Walker, from Birmingham, nearly fell off his bicycle the first time he cycled past Baker's lupin fields, bowled over by the multicoloured patchwork stretching as far as the eye could see. A few years later, on a motorcycle, he returned to fill his sidecar with lupin plants. He befriended Sonny, who taught him the tricks of the trade, and went into breeding his own. Among his many successes are 'Aston Villa' (pictured left), a claret and blue bicolor and 'Canary', a deep yellow.A few years ago he appeared on television's Channel Four and made a plea for young gardeners to take up the challenge. The letters poured in. One was from a young woman, Sarah Conibear. Sarah had already caught the lupin bug before she saw Johnny, and now, having added his lupin genes to hers, is getting even more impressive results. Like Johnny Walker and Russell she grows masses of lupins and rogues to get the best strains. Russell went for bombastic, closely packed flowers, Johnny Walker is aiming to revive the good blues, and breed some more unusual colours such as near black and green; and Sarah is going for a combination of good colour, strength, and flower size. She has some good strains already, including 'Pink Cadillac', the purple 'Bishop's Tipple', the pink and white 'Dolly Mixture', and is soon to release 30 new varieties. |
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| The only remaining long standing specialist lupin nursery in the country belongs to the Woodfield brothers of Stratford-upon-Avon, from where Johnny and Sarah often buy or exchange plants. This nursery supplies an excellent range called the New Generation Strains derived from the Russell strains. It is worth visiting their stand at the Chelsea Flower Show. Notable varieties include the white 'Deborah Woodfield', the deep red Troop the Colour' and the yellow 'Moonraker'. The nursery breeds extensively, concentrating on thick flower spikes with good points that are long lived, the flowers at the bottom remaining open when the ones at the tip flower. This year they are releasing 'Nigel Colborn', a white late flowering variety that is resistant to mildew and 'Steward Ogg', the deepest purple yet seen. Strange but True?
The Romans ate the roasted seeds of sweet white lupins, Lupinus albus and made them into coffee and, at the end of the First World War, German officials held a lupin feast to demonstrate the potential of this crop as a source of protein. |
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 Invitations were printed on paper made of lupins and the table was covered in a lupin tablecloth. Guests were served lupin soup, lupin cutlets, lupin cheese and even lupin coffee.In Chile, sweet white lupin flour is still used as a base in soups, stews and milk shakes in school meals, and spaghetti made from white lupin flour has been marketed in the United States. An important word of caution: many lupins, including our garden hybrids, are full of poisonous alkaloids, so don't ever eat them. |
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