Why Your Garden NEEDS Cardinal Flower (Lobelia) 🌿 A Native Hummingbird Magnet for Wet Spots!💧WATCH the Video! 📺

https://youtu.be/yS6QAwHBygk

No plant speaks to us more in late Summer to early Fall than our native Lobelia, or Cardinal Flower. This plant features extremely long, tubular flowers, making it an absolute magnet for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.

A colony of Lobelia cardinalis in a wet, part-sun woodland garden

Lobelia does best in part sun and slightly moist soil, so if you have a wet sunny spot in the yard that has been notoriously hard to plant, Cardinal Flower might just be the plant you’ve been looking for! 

Lobelia speciosa 'Starship Scarlet'

Here at Bountiful Gardens, we carry a number of Cardinal Flower hybrid cultivars, like the ‘Starship’ series, featuring flowers in red, blue, pink, purple and white. Of course, for those looking to plant straight native species, we also carry Lobelia cardinalis and Lobelia siphilitica, the North American natives that started it all! But what’s the difference between the red and blue native species? 

Great Blue Lobelia, Lobelia siphilitica, in a woodland garden

If you’re trying to decide between red Cardinal Flower and Great Blue Lobelia, here are some facts that might help you make your choice:

Lobelia cardinalis in a rain garden setting

Red Cardinal Flower, or Lobelia cardinalis, features long tubulars flower that are fantastic at attracting hummingbirds. In fact, it’s one of the few plants in North America that relies on hummingbirds for pollination. 

A bumblebee gathers pollen from Lobelia siphilitica.

Great Blue Lobelia, or Lobelia siphilitica, has a shorter, wider opening to its flowers, making it much more attractive to bumblebees. So if you want to attract hummingbirds, plant red Cardinal Flower, and if you’re looking to support the bumblebees, go with blue Cardinal Flower! 

Cardinal Flower amongst ferns in a native woodland garden

There are plenty of interesting things to say about Cardinal Flower. For one, the leaves contain a compound similar to nicotine, so scientists have been studying it in an effort to help smokers quit. 

Lobelia cardinalis 'Black Truffle'

Historically, Native Americans would use the flowers and leaves of the plant to make a tea that would alleviate stomach cramps, and the Pawnee used the flowers in a love concoction! These days, we know the plant contains toxic compounds, so it’s best to just appreciate these blooms for their breathtaking beauty. 

Lobelia cardinalis beckoning hummingbirds in a pond garden

It’s even believed that red Cardinal Flower evolved to have its bright, long flowers specifically to beckon to passing hummingbirds, who use their long beaks to access the flowers’ nectar while unknowingly helping to pollinate the plant. Bees and other insects simply don’t have the tools necessary to access the pollen or nectar from these deep flowers, leaving butterflies and hummingbirds with an exclusive food source. 

Lobelia speciosa 'Starship Blue' standing tall in our perennial section

Overall, Cardinal Flower is a late-blooming, sun and shade-loving perennial that thrives in wet boggy soils, making it perfect for rain gardens, stream banks, low spots and other hard-to plant areas of the yard! 

Lobelia cardinalis in front of Joe Pye Weed on the bank of a pond

Don’t go another year without Lobelia in your garden! Come down to Bountiful Gardens and find the perfect variety for your landscape today!