Lupinus excubitus

Grape soda lupine is one of the smaller bush lupines with many different forms that range from the desert to mountains. The foliage is gray, the flowers are purple and smell like grape soda. Do not water after the first summer in most of California. Prefers sandy or loam soil.You can grow Grape soda lupine on clay, but not well in clay. Grape soda lupine occurs in areas of clay soil but where there are drifts of sand or scree deep enough to keep its base from drowning in winter. A pickup load of plaster sand dumped in an area should allow one-three bushes to live happily for a few years. Birds relish the seed, butterflies were working the flowers, and we found several white lined sphinx larvae on the Lupinus excubitus.