Lobelia, Trailing 'Sapphire' (Lobelia erinus)

Sapphire lobelia in Anchorage, Alaska - September 2002.

Now that is blue! Great shot. And I see a fuchsia there also!

Yes, these lobelia were so vivid. I took a picture while visiting our local nursery wholesalers in Anchorage, Alaska last fall. It was September and all the flowers were showing off one last time.

I love those things but i have a hard time growing them. Some folks think they like shade, but the tag usually says sun. Does anyone know the secret to these?

Very nice, weezie!!!

Thanks, Lenjo. :) Woodspirit: I'm probably a poor authority on lobelia, since our climate is chilly and damp... not to mention short! I know from experience that it is difficult to grow from seed, since the seeds are minute and it they are likely to dampen off once they come up. They also need to be started very early... January, in order to be blooming in June around here. As for sun, our strongest sunlight is seldom a threat to even the shade lovers, but the lobelia I have grown seems to like it best in our sunniest spots.

I find my lobelia like partial sun. They do tend to get a little "sunburnt" if they get too much mid day sun.

I have had good luck growing lobelia from seed. Of course I live in a much warmer climate than you do Weezingreens. The seed is very fine, like dust. I just sprinkle it on soilless seed-starting medium in a small container - like the bottom of a pop bottle. The seedlings come up crammed together but I find it is easy to prick them out and they are very resilient. I pot them up in six packs and let them grow until they are big enough to go into their permanent site. I grow them in both full sun and part shade. I think the humidity here is more of a problem for them. I also have some plants that fail when it gets really hot and humid and others keep blooming their heads off. And they can be side by side so I don't really know why some don't make it. I planted some of those plant bags with impatiens and lobelia and hung them on the columns in front of my house. The lobelia adds such an airy look. I just love it.

Actually, it is quite cool at nights and rarely over 80 deg in the summer because we are up in the mountains. So I still don't know what my problem is. It's rainy here but I have seen it growing with good drainage and performing well. I guess I'll just have to try again. Maybe I'll try some pebbles in the bottom and some sand in the soil.....

there is a product called soil guard, for helping to eliminte damping off. i queen of using too much water on my seedlings, used it last year and it worked fantastic!!!! garden's alive sells it. http://www.gardensalive.com
hope this helps someone.
debi z

Thanks, Debi, I'll look into it. I know they have a product called 'No Damp' in Canada, but I don't think they'll ship it out to me here in Alaska. At some DGers' suggestion, I've used chamomile tea in my misting bottle, and so far so good! I've got several flats of lobelia transplanted to cell packs now and no dampening off. Of course, I sterilized the starter mix and the containers, too.

i tried chamomile tea. probably gave it to much. lol i swear by this stuff after just one season. you can use it outside too, but i didn't do that, just in my seeds indoors. i'm going to buy some with my $20 gift certificate i got with my catalogue. :) they also have $20 off of $40 too. i called and told them i hadn't received a catalogue and a friend told me about the $20 gift certificate. she sent it along to me. expires on the 31st of may i believe.
debi z

hello all...am new to this site...and a new 'gardener' too! I planted my first herb garden last year (in an L-shaped container off my deck) and planted several bunches of lobelia around it. It seemed to work well with decent blooms throughout the summer. This year...what the heck did I do wrong???? Did the same thing, though perhaps I may not have purchased the 'exact' same lobelia. They looked great in June until about mid to end of July and then it seemed all four plants lost their blooms and died/dried up! I fertilized too! Aren't they supposed to stay in bloom throughout the summer until September at least? I did try to deadhead...

If anyone can 'enlighten' me, I'd appreciate it! PS: What's the reference to using chamomile tea????
stimmins

Stimmins, I think it may be an issue of heat and full sun. The lobelia do find in the sun here, but looked a bit straggly this summer when we had an unusual spell of hot weather.

Chamomile tea seems to help with 'dampening off', or that unhappy circumstance when our young seedlings started indoors begin to fall over like fallen trees. It is an organism that attacks the stems at the soil line. Sterilizing your planting medium and containers is important, and not planting too thickly. In the case of lobelia, it tends to be planted thickly, so it dampens off easily. I tried spraying with a chamomile tea solution as suggested, and it seemed to work!

Thanks, Weezingreens. I wondered whether the sun/heat had something to do with my dying lobelia. As for 'dampening off', I have yet to attempt planting from seedlings (though it certainly would be cheaper!) I imagine that would require lots of space and grow lights? (which I don't have!) And to 'NatureWalker', thanks for the info and links you emailed me!

Now, I have a question on Hibiscus! I purchased 3 plants at a clearance sale the first week in July, planted them immediately as one looked like it was ready to soon bloom. A few weeks later a beautiful huge white flower came out (see photo), but within a few days wilted and fell off. Is this typical of hibiscus? Also, does it really require 'full' sun all day long???

Boy, Stimmins, I'm no hibiscus expert. It doesn't seem to winter over here. I'd post a thread on one of the forums in Dave's Garden.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Stimmins!

Thanks for the Beautiful pictures on your site. Especially the Blue Lobelia. Some years ago I began
trying to grow a hanging baskets full of these beautiful flowers. This year, after many years of failure, where they dried up or just wilted and died, I have been rewarded with success. We moved away from an Interstate and this year, Viola! I have 2 georgous hanging baskets of Blue Lobelia I bought at a garden shop. I started them in early May, using 6 plants per
hanging basket. They are over flowing the baskets. I do not have a digital camera, but I have taken 35 mm
pictures to prove I finally got them to grow. I also found some that were white with a blue throat, and they are paired with Jumbe Red Petunias in containers. They are also looking great.

Don't give up. The success is so sweet....as is the flower

Right you are, June! Lobelia usually does well here. I start mine from seed, and you have to get a pretty early start indoors to get blooms all summer.