Decades of work by plant breeders trying to increase the colour range of lupins were rendered superfluous by George Russell, who in 1938 revealed the rainbow palette of lupin cultivars he had bred. Chelsea visitors were dazzled by the Baker’s Nursery
display of these plants in 1939.
Plant Champion: Iris Chapman, 78 from Wrotham Iris's first encounter with lupins was in the early years of the Second World War when her family moved to Cheltenham and she made friends with another girl on her road whose father grew them. She was amazed by the display of colour they created and has been growing them ever since.