The lupin is both thing of beauty and horticultural tool in R J Harris's management of the walled kitchen garden at Tresillian in Cornwall. It and its many fellows of the flower family occupy year two in the head gardener's rotation system. In due course they are succeeded by the cabbage tribe, which welcomes the nitrogen left in the soil by the lupins' roots. These specimens are special. They are the kind known as Russell, and are Mr Harris's own strain.They demanded six years of the head gardener's time to perfect, and the effort to achieve even better results goes on. He grows on from selected cuttings. "Lupin seed is not saved," he explains. "You cannot rely upon seed to reproduce required colours. The bees know all about making honey. They know very little about developing flowers. Cuttings is the only certain way." Like the many other old-fashioned plants that thrive at Tresillian, the lupin helps R J Harris to bring back to the walled garden the golden age of Victorian kitchen gardening. Pic: Olive Harris
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