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What eats Lobelia cardinalis greens?

14 years ago

Last year something really munched on my Lobelia cardinalis. Much of it survived but it sure did get a knocked back. I'm curious what it was.

I live next to wetland and woods. There are overpopulated deer but I've read L. cardinalis is deer resistant. But, deer will eat plants they are not supposed to when hungry. There are also plenty of muskrat in the wetlands as well as the usual assortment of eastern woodland critters like coons, squirrels, etc.

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Comments (6)

fatamorgana2121
14 years ago
Unless it looked like a critter chewed it, bugs would always be my first guess. Any pictures?

FataMorgana
ctnchpr
14 years ago
Cabbage Loopers can strip a plant quickly, and they blend with the leaves very well, making them hard to spot.
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I'm thinking the same thing as Ted. Campanula punctata has much wider lower leaves, and it doesn't develop a stalk like the plant in the photo does. Lobelia does have stalk like that. Also Campanula punctata has fine hairs on the stems. They seem to be absent in your photo above. The leaves to the right do look like Campanula punctata lower leaves. I'm wondering if the campanula has grown over to the plant in the photo and is co-mingled with it. Lobelia is not blooming here yet so it would still be unnoticeable. This is a pic of my 'Little Punky'. It is the best pic I have of leaves as opposed to flowers. It is a dwarf, but the larger forms look the same. Remy
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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.
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Silverkelt your daylily seedlings are beautiful!! I can only hope the seedlings I've sown this year and last will be so nice. I've gotten seeds from a SASBE and also from the Lily Auction, and none of them have bloomed yet, not even last year's seedlings, due to limited sun. Adidas, I have wintersown Lobelia cardinalis and many species of Asclepias - as I have a certified Monarch Waystation and raise Monarch butterflies each year. In fact, I am just winding down from a very busy Monarch season, and coming back to the forums to check out what's going on. Winter sowing works well for both, although most of my Lobelia cardinalis seedlings sow themselves out in the garden paths and in bare spots. I transplant them to a new spot, and a new patch is started! Asclepias is a fussy genus - but winter- or spring-sowing works well. They will also reseed sometimes. In my experience they don't need much cold stratification, and the seedlings are easy to transplant. After that, I have mixed success! Asclepias curassavica ends up being the best and prettiest winter-sown species - and it makes a great host plant for the Monarchs.
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good thinking...I replanted the root wad off the first clump to die off in a different area, hoping it might yet come back. I will have a closer look at the remaining ones, though the leaves only look severely sick, not full of holes, nor are there any visible entry holes on the stems. I did a search on "chlorotic lobeblia" and right away I discovered there is a mosaic virus like the one that attacks cucumbers...and the symptoms smatch mine pretty closely. THe odd thing is that the plants just look very sick but are still attempting to flower, and that it's just the two plnats, the others are a healthy green. All soil, sun, water, etc etc conditions are the same for all 5 plants (I replaced the one that died with a self-grown seedling from wild collected seed) so whatever this is, only a few have it.
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learn2turn
Original Author
14 years ago
Would insects eat down the stems too? The plants I had that were munch had the leaves, veins, and stems gone is if a critter gnawed it from the top down.
fatamorgana2121
14 years ago
Both woodchucks and rabbits have bit plants off near the base here to eat the plant on the spot or drag it off with them to eat elsewhere. Of course sometimes they decide after biting off the plant that they really don't want to eat it. The rabbits did that with my gas plants. Left the nipped off plant carcases for me to find.

You'll need to watch or examine your plants more closely to determine exact causes. You can protect them with barriers of some sort to discourage the non-insect pests. Insect pests need hand-plucking and squashing (what I do) or some sort of insecticide.

FataMorgana
joepyeweed
14 years ago
Japanese Beetles ate my cardinal flowers to the ground last year. They also ate all my jewelweed too. After they ate everything in my rain garden, they moved over to the milkweed flowers and the roses.
flora_uk
14 years ago
Snails ate mine.

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cold stratification?

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