Mine are in full bloom now (purple and blue varieties that I grew from the
seeds given to me by a friend). This is my first time growing these as well,
so I thank you for your question. I'm going to deadhead very soon. I've been
lucky so far - no aphids OR mildew. Our weather has been dry with low
humidity, so that's probably helping.
Unfortunately, I never expected ALL the seeds to sprout, and ALL the
sprouts to live, so I never thinned. I have a little lupine forest about 6 X
8 feet with 20 plants or so crammed together - plants 3 -4 feet tall with
blooms rising another 1 1/2 feet about that. I understand they don't
transplant well, but I'm going to have to try late in the fall or early in
the spring. Fortunately, they are from the legume family, so they are
enriching the soil with nitrogen (at least I hope they are).