Lobelia is one of my favorite plants to grow each summer.
I am head over heals in love with it.
I planted a six pack of them in this basket a few weeks ago and they just keep blooming and blooming.
How To Grow Lobelia
- If growing by seed indoors, start plants 10 weeks prior to last frost date for your area.
- Can be a little difficult to grow from seed though, so most gardeners buy in 6 packs from the local garden center.
- Plant in full sun to part shade. In hotter regions, less sun is preferred to keep them blooming longer.
- Grows 8 to 10 inches in height.
- Lobelia is grown as a tender perennial in zones 10-11, but as an annual from zones 2-9.
- Although they come in other colors, the blue and violet colors of lobelia are the most popular.
How To Care For Lobelia
- Lobelia is generally a low maintenance plant.
- Keep plants well watered especially during the mid-summer heat.
- Cutting back the plants after the first initial batch of blooms have faded will promote additional flowers.
- You can fertilize with an all-purpose liquid fertilizer ever 3-4 weeks, but it is not absolutely necessary.
They look great planted in the ground or in a container. The trailing nature of this lobelia would make it PERFECT for a hanging basket.
Lobelia erinus (edging lobelia) is the type I have grown most often and produce these vibrant flowers. These are the ones you most often see in the garden centers.
I've also tried the newer heat resistant lobelia and tend to stand up to the intense mid-summer heat quite well (I talk about the Techno Heat Lobelia in my post on Container Gardening Made Easy).
This lobelia plant is actually an inexpensive hanging basket that I removed the plastic hangers from and just plopped down in an old wooden crate.
It doesn't get much easier than that!
If you've not tried growing lobelia before, you really need to give it a go this summer. You won't regret it!
New For Spring 2021:
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Gardening Tutorials And Ideas
Nanniepannie
Love your basket. Our color theme on the porch is red yellow and blue, Lobelia works so well in our porch boxes. It's a must for every garden...a great pop of blue.
poppilinnstudios
How pretty! Love the color of the Lobelia. Looks great in a basket.
-Lynn
Bohemian
What a vivid shade of color they are... love it!
Dawn... The Bohemian
Pamela @ FlowerPatchFarmhouse.com
I love Lobelia too, especially the trailing lobelia for baskets and hanging planters. I always try to put them in transportable containers so when it gets too hot for them I can keep them in a shadier location and they last all summer. On another not, I love the font in your Header, could you tell me what it is?
Pam
The font is called Brannboll and you can find it on DaFont. It comes with different "tails" too 🙂
Pamela @ FlowerPatchFarmhouse.com
Thank you so much!
Mary
Hey Pam, I love lobelias but I have had no success with them. Temperatures here get as high as 39 degrees. I am totally in awe at yours . You must have grown from seedlings ? I have tried from seeds ? Any advice for me ?
Pam
I have not grown from seed before Mary, I normally pick up the little cell packs at the local nursery. I have heard from other gardening friends that they do grow easily from seeds, but most people agree that they don't like to dry out in the heat of the summer, so keep them watered. I normally grow it in a container (basket,hanging basket or something like that, so I'm watering it daily anyhow).
Mary
I just bought this plant. I put it in a hanging container with white trailer. Should be Really pretty together. Can't wait until it gets bigger. I love it also.
Barb
Lobelia is gorgeous ,if you can keep it alive through the summer ,. Never had luck with it .
Pam
They have a new variety called Techno Heat lobelia and I just planted some for the first time this year. It's supposed to take the mid-summer heat much better than the traditional variety. A friend in North Carolina planted it last year and she said it flowered all summer long so I thought I'd give it a try this year!
Barb
Thanks so much for the heads up on the new heat tolerant lobelia , I love those gorgeous flowers ,can't wait to get to garden center to find me some . Thanks again Pam ,,
Beth
I just love lobelia but have a hard time keeping them going in July and August in upstate NY. I have a Bs in horticulture from Cornell, so I'm not a novice. I stopped myself from buying them today because they always fail maybe not enough water. Nice post.
Pam Kessler
Have you tried the Techno Heat variety yet? They tend to be a little more heat tolerant.
Chris
Hi Pam,
Love your post and ideas for using vintage finds for your garden and porch.
I’m always a bit envious of the treasures you find at the yard sales - living in UK, we don’t tend to have these so much - antiques stores we have, but pricey!
But I spent a few days in Sonoma county recently and was delighted to find a selection of reasonably priced antique/collectors outlets all clustered together ....... needless to say I had buy a few items to bring back to UK for souvenirs 🤣
I’m off to the garden centre to find some summer bedding plants to put into a crate, hopefully it will look as good as yours when done!!
PS: hoping your son continues to do well after his surgery!
finds
Pam Kessler
Thank you! He's doing great! And I'm glad you were able to find some treasures!
Susan
Lobelia do not like hot temps., which is why we all lose them.
Cindy
My favorite annual. I don’t think they like humidity. I have better luck some years.
Jo Ann
Love the basket. Did you put a liner in it before planting the lobellas??
Tammy
So I'm new at this and just bought my first Lobelia's. You mentioned that you need to cut them back after the first set of blooms. Can you help me with how far to cut them back. I would love to see them flourish in the next few weeks.