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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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.