Swede-scented Lupin in the garden this summer

Peter Dowdall is smitten by the cottage garden favourite, immortalised in a Monty Python sketch.

If, according to Katie Melua’s song there are nine million bicycles inBeijing, then there must be a multiple of that number of Lupins in Sweden. Hard to believe that what we consider a sought-after addition to any herbaceous or cottage garden is regarded as an invasive species in the Scandinavian country.