The lupin as we know it would never have come about but for one man - George Russell. This retired gardener from York began breeding them at the age of 54, using two allotments, and finally staged his first exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show in 1938 aged 79.
He died at the grand old age of 94 in 1951 - having become a legend in his own lifetime. Every packet of Russell Lupin seed bore a picture of a twinkly-eyed old man in a grandad shirt - Russell himself - and this tradition carried on for many years.
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