I grow mine from seed in NC7b....our summer days are often in the high 80s through 95. The green-leafed ones like Crystal Palace do way better than the purple-leafed ones. I try to trim them. The ones in the beds are mostly gone by end of July or mid August, though I saw some blooming today. The ones in hanging flower pots are good until September. They can take some heat but do like water. I tend to think wintersown ones are tougher, if you want to try that. They are crazy easy to grow from seed. :)

Lobelia siphilitica? After a closer look I think Carol has it. This post was edited by aftermidnight on Tue, Sep 16, 14 at 11:21

Mine are definitely coming back from the original plants. However, they make "offshoots" or "offsets" in the fall, and that is what actually overwinters. There is a great explanation about Lobelia cardinalis and the way it winters over in William Cullinas book on Wildflowers. It is one of my favorite books and will type an excerpt: "Lobelias are not true perennials, because the flowering stem and its associated roots die after setting seed. They are perennial in effect only because new offsets grow from the axils of the lowermost leaves and quickly put down their own abundant white roots. It is especially important, then that these new offsets be coddled a little in the fall. Think of them as seedlings that must be kept free of debris and competition so that they will have a chance to establish roots before winter. With a little attention, the plants will come back indefinitely." That is why I dead head these plants, including removing the seed pods as they are forming and even before a stalk has finished blooming. I want them to establish healthy offsets for the winter.

By now I suppose people are sick of hearing about my lost year, but I got some nice Lobelia Cardinalis out of it, came from Prairie Moon Nursery. When I could face the mess, I rescued things that looked like possible plants from piles of stuff that had been neglected all last year, and I thought they were dianthus, potted them up in 16 oz cups (from now on 12 oz so I don't have to dig as deep a hole lol). Anyway, all of a sudden they started blooming, and I knew instantly they weren't dianthus but lobelia (of course the foliage is totally diffeent duh). I was elated. So I read up a little, they like to form colonies along streams and riverbanks and planted my 2+ plants per container in a boggy spot when it rains. One got bent over and made seeds it looks like but the other is still blooming out there, and it warms my heart to see that splash of red. I hope they will form a colony in there with the monarda and attract hummingbirds. Those photos are gorgeous! I have a couple but not worth posting. I just love the cardinalis, and the other varieties are really showy, too. Now I see there is a perennial variety of bachelor's button. I'm not having much luck getting my true blue flowers, so disappointed in Veronica Royal Candles, definitely purple spires. I planted them anyway. BTW, I have high hopes for my Baptisia Purple Smoke. The flowers didn't amount to much, they bloom early, but the foliage is so pretty and has spread into a really nice stand, am really hopeful for it next spring. Best of all, I'm getting excited about winter sowing again but will try to restrain myself from trying to do too much and then things spiralling out of control. I buy plants, too, so that is cheating but that's how I do. I must say I've curbed my spending on seeds and all of it, will make do as best I can then buy what I must, potting soil doesn't go that far. I don't know if people saw my post asking for an id for what turned out to be pokeweed and also a separate thread asking for an id on nutsedge. Alas, both I think came from Prairie Moon because they feature pokeweed and all kinds of sedges in their catalog. Don't hesitate to buy from them, just make sure what you sow is clean before setting it out. You do not want what I got with the nutsedge. The pokeweed I can get rid of the last of it with RU if I have to; luckily that's only in one spot I can easily watch.