Do we like great blue lobelia?

5 years ago

Saw this for sale locally, not familiar with it other than know it is native to my area. What's the verdict here? My main concerns are propensity for mildew and ratty foliage.

Featured Answer

GardenHo_MI_Z5

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

I also have lobelia ‘Tania’ which did much better for some reason

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (11)

GardenHo_MI_Z5
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Needs part shade and moist soil. I lost mine in the drought this year which saddens me as I really liked them...

No mildew here and foliage can get ratty if not enough moisture.
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
5 years ago
There are two of these and the other has more responses.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5454633/do-we-like-great-blue-lobelia#n=5
Related Discussions
HAVE: Great Blue Lobelia siphilitica
Q
Comments (3)
Yes, we'll be there. I dug out 10 lobelia and hardly made a dent. Might dig out some more if people want them.
...See More
Great Blue Lobelia
Q
Comments (2)
I grew it 6+ years ago from seed via winter sowing. It did have a flopping habit but I had no objections--I planted it to sustain pollinators. This year a seedling came up through a crack in my ancient breezeway concrete so I left it to do its thing. I'm in southern New England and it's still blooming. As you commented, the actual stems have a curved growth pattern...some of the shorter stems go more horizontal and are curved. I don't have a problem with how it grows and simply walk around where it's growing up through the concrete.
...See More
Great Blue Lobelia… NOT!
Q
Comments (3)
Really? Oh, I hope so! I've only seen the picture of lobelia, and not at this phase of bud formation.
...See More
Harvesting seed from Great Blue Lobelia
Q
Comments (4)
You have to leave the spent flower stalks on the plant until they are brown and dried out. It still takes weeks for the seeds to mature after flowering is finished. To test if they are ready, take a piece of the dried seed head and turn it upside down, and if the seeds are ready they should easily fall out of the seedhead. Do it over a plate or something. Lobelia seeds are very tiny. Don't cover the seeds when you sow them, just sow on top of soil surface.
...See More
sunnyborders
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
As per NHBab's link.

Have grown it in sun as well, but it requires moisture as GardenHo says. It is short-lived but, in my experience as well, seeds around wherever it wants to.

I have usually found it too unruly for my gardens. Below, within range of a sprinkler head but hemmed in by stonework (Aug 20, 2011). Even then, a lot of seedlings had to be taken out each fall.

Have certainly grown more compact and delicate perennial lobelia, but this (through seeding) has proven to be the real survivor.
growgirl
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Grow it in our native bed. Love it. Can be short lived but will reseed if not deadheaded. Bees love it, makes a nice attractive clump imo. I have it in full sun, mostly dry bed with no issues. Never have seen mildew on it. Give it a shot:)

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=i460
GardenHo_MI_Z5
5 years ago
Interesting to hear that it reseeds. I had mine for at least 5 years and they never did, wish they would have....
Skip1909
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I read in a book if you put down some pea gravel, rocks, stone edging or pavers, the seeds of Lobelia will get stuck near the edges and sprout more readily.
raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
5 years ago
What skip1909 said makes sense -- when I think about it, those are the areas where my seedlings have sprouted (pea gravel/stone paths and stone edging). Kind of like the coral bells (heuchera). Never a seedling in the flower beds next to the parent, dozens of them in the cracks of my paver patio every year!
Gargamel
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I have it, and wish I didn't! It seeds everywhere if it's happy. I planted it in one garden and then it jumped into a garden 20 feet away. I spent last Fall and this Summer pulling out hundreds of seedlings. It would be nice in a wild area, especially at this time of year, with Goldenrod. (Muskoka, Ontario - zone 5 Canada)
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
5 years ago
This week I found a plant in the garden 3/8 of a mile down the road at DH’s shop where I also have a garden. Seed must have traveled on tools since I haven’t seen it in the wild here, and it really is a very enthusiastic seeder with a long life in the soil. I am still pulling plants in the original garden more than a dozen years after removal.
Gargamel
5 years ago
OH NO! 12 years after removal ! I guess I know what I'll be doing for at least the next 12 years