Lupines have spread to the wild, as such , mostly they survive on around natural rainfall cycles of 60-70 inches a year here. They are tough, but they like cooler zones, but easily handly -40f degrees for winter hardines. Seen here Lupine Tutti Frutti, a wintersown hybrid type from a few years ago, Ive seen some of the natural ones last years, but you will eventually have to resow them, they are not a long lasting perrenial, but rather a easily sown one, each flower stalk may produce hundreds of seeds. A good size clump like this will have thousand or two of viable seed. You can easily wintersow them every couple years if you want, I do them on a rudbeckia cycle I have so every 2-3 years when I see some of these start dying down a little, I sow some more.

Thanks Tiffy - I moved them on Sunday and none too soon because we have had buckets of rain since then. It's been so dry here I've been watering every day, now it's so hot and humid - there's no happy medium. Thanks again. Northerner.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Fungus might well be a possibility, terrene, with all the rain in recent years. Biennials just don't cut it for me in perennial beds that are a long walk from the house. I have to say that my lupines have been behaving exactly like biennials. Nope, diggingthedirt, I don't deadhead any of my perennials, and in fact I've even tried planting some of the seed pods to no avail, the other pods ought to be self-sowing. I wonder if the nursery where I bought them has sold me a hybrid variety that doesn't self-sow. And nhbabs the possibility of voles may just be the most likely scenerio yet. If the voles like lupine, then no wonder mine are doomed. The area where my lupine is planted is overrun with voles, since the foxes moved on. (I miss "my" foxes!) You would think that eating a poisonous plant would kill the voles, but then if those who dined on lupine did die, it would not make a dent in the vole overpopulation. It sounds like there are just too many perils for lupine. I think I've bought my last lupine plants, as pretty as they may be. Guess I'll replace these when they go with more phlox, daylilies, or iris, since these plants thrive there. Thanks again for the replies. All your ideas have been very helpful.

I've always been amazed by the show of lupines along the sides of the highways up in Maine. Plus the fields of lupines you see in Veremont. There's even some fields of lupines growing along the Mass Pike. You would think they would be easy to grow - since obviously they are not getting a lot of TLC on the side of a highway. You would think that lupines would be one of the easiest plants to grow. But then - I have had horrible luck getting lupines to grow. I had originally thought it would be fabulous to have a field of lupines out behind my pond - but every time I have attemepted to plant a lupine there, it has died. I even bought a huge ziploc bag of seeds from some lady in Maine and scattered all the seeds back there. None of them took. This year I have found 2 volunteer seedlings in one of my side gardens. I have them staked so they don't accidentally get trampled or weeded. I am hoping and praying that I get lupine flowers next year. And can I hope even more that they self sow next year, and the following year I'll have lots of little seedlings.