Growing Cardinal Flower

Cardinal flower, also known as Lobelia cardinalis, is a great choice for a native, non-invasive plant that is a great addition to most gardens located in North America. It’s deep brilliant shades of red will add in beautiful shades to your garden, and is also a great choice for attracting guests during the summer. Cardinal flower is a flower to consider planting this year if you’re looking to improve the visual appeal of your garden or compliment the colors of other flowers.

Lobelia Cardinalis in New Jersey

Lobelia cardinalis is a moderately easy short-lived perennial to tend to and can add great visual appeal to any garden as well as bring in plenty of welcome guests like hummingbirds or butterflies. It’s beauty can add a lot to a garden, and will add a beautiful shade of scarlet into flower beds, which can be complimented with plenty of other colors easily. While most cardinal flowers come in a shade of scarlet similar to poinsettia bracts, there are a few other varieties such as ‘Rosea’ or ‘Alba’ that are shades of pink and white.

Growing this beautiful plant is not too much trouble. Cardinal flower tolerates full sun, but should be grown in partial shade usually. If you live in an area with cool summers, you can grow them in the full sun without a problem. The soil conditions should be kept moist, and you need not worry about drainage, as this plant can tolerate poor drainage easily. The soil should be slightly acidic but can tolerate other soils as long as it’s kept wet. Cardinal plants are fairly hardy plants and are also deer resistant. Towards the middle of summer,  they will produce tubular blossoms until the early fall.

Growing Cardinal Flower

When planting, your garden soil should be rich and full of organic matter. Space plants a foot apart, and add mulch to prevent water from evaporating. Make sure to keep them very moist as they establish or else few will actually grow. Seeds should usually establish within seven weeks after they’ve established. You will need to store seeds in your refrigerator for a few months before you are able to plant them. Seeds will last for around three years when stored in sealed container and are refridgerated.

These plants can be grown from either seeds, cuttings, divisions, or by separating rosettes in the autumn. You should also consider you may need to reseed since the plant is short lived. You have plenty of options however, you can either take cuttings in the mid-summer, or you can also divide every two or three years to replace any plants that need replaced. These plants naturally will reseed the area around them, with seed capsules that are on the flowering stalk that will naturally erode, dropping the seeds around the plant. During any dry periods in summer, you will need to make sure the soil stays moist. There are some pests and diseases that can harm cardinal flower, mostly slugs and snails which can cause rust and leaf spots. However there are ways to help, such as trimming the affected leaves, or by watering properly.

Cardinal flower is a great option to consider this upcoming planting season. There are so many beautiful, vivid, and beneficial native plants and finding the right one for your garden can be tough. Cardinal flower can add plenty to your garden, from welcome garden guests to beautiful shades of scarlet. There are plenty of other native plants that go great with this one, or you can add in multiple varieties of lobelia cardinalis for a beautiful mix of red, white, or pink. There are plenty of options you have with this plant to improve the visual appeal of your garden, and it’s a perfect choice for anyone in North America looking for a new favorite flower.