Lobelia loves moist, fertile soil. So it is a great filler for the spot in our garden that just stays too wet for most plants, the area near the water outlets since our old hose connector leaks enough water to easily create puddles in the surrounding area.
Lobelia can be an annual or a perennial plant. The annual varieties are often used for planters and hanging baskets. But the perennial lobelia is what this article is all about, the Lobelia × speciosa, usually of L. cardinalis and L. siphilitica varieties. Annual lobelia rarely grows taller than a foot and have tiny wiry stems, but the perennial lobelia can tower up to four feet on fat stalks.
Lobelia cardinalis' spires produce our favorite bright purple flowers. It also has blooms in bright blue, shades of blue, lavender, pink, and most commonly red, on erect, terminal spikes (racemes). It has large, unbranched, alternate-leafed stalks rising above its mound of leaves up to four feet, but mostly to a height of two to three feet.
It has tubular 2-lipped flowers, with the three lobes of the lower lip appearing more prominent than the two lobes of the upper lip.
The hood-like flowers have a long blooming season, from July to September, if we keep deadheading spent blooms off its long stalks. The blooms open up from bottom to top, so we keep pulling off the lower spent blooms, much like we do with our foxgloves.
It is adaptable to almost any situation with enough water since we have them in full sun, in partial shade, and in full shade. However, those in the shade tend to grow lanky although the flowers last longer.
Its finely-toothed, lance-shaped, dark green leaves, to 4" long, have a subtle red tinge, and provide a pleasing backdrop for the vibrant purple blooms. Ferns, hosta, and Heuchera pair well with lobelia since they love the shade created by the taller lobelia.
We love the colorful hood-like blooms of lobelia. They are great magnets for butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. In fact, mostly because we want to attract those pollinators, we purposely grow Lobelia cardinalis.
We divide our lobelias every spring for our plant sale. It is actually short-lived, but because lobelias self-sow, we have a good colony of lobelias to sell and to stock in our garden every year. We just have to mulch the lowest stalk and roots in winter to ensure successful overwintering.
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