Lobelia – planting and care

Scientific name (Latin): Lobelia erinus

Family: Campanulaceae, bellflower family

If you choose lobelia for your outdoor pots, balcony boxes, or hanging baskets, you can enjoy hundreds of small flowers from April/May until the frost sets in. We mainly distinguish between edging lobelia and trailing lobelia:

• Edging lobelia is a great border plant, forming compact mounds and working well in beds and pots – also lovely if you want to frame a gravesite or create a colorful carpet on a slope.
• Trailing lobelia is perfect for hanging baskets and balcony boxes, with its gently cascading growth. You can also plant it in pots, combined with more upright plants.

Both edging and trailing lobelia come in various colors, from the classic pure blue to white, pink, and purple.

Lobelia almost takes care of itself – just plant it in good soil and water it now and then.

• Light
  Blooms most and longest in full sun, but can also grow in partial shade.
• Soil and fertilizer
  Plant in nutrient-rich soil, such as potting soil – this will give the plants what they need for a long time, often the whole season. If you choose soil without nutrients, add slow-release fertilizer to the soil or use liquid fertilizer every or every other week.
• Watering
  Even moisture is best. To make watering easier, choose a large pot, container, or hanging basket with drainage holes. A large container with plenty of soil retains moisture better. The hole in the bottom helps with drainage, so the roots won’t rot.
• Care
  One of the advantages of Lobelia is that you don’t need to remove faded flowers or leaves during the summer – the plant cleans itself.

Lobelia is one of several summer flowers that you can easily grow yourself. You can start the seeds indoors in seed starting soil, then harden off and move the plants outside – or you can sow them directly outdoors once the weather has warmed up. Follow the instructions on the seed packet.

Lobelia looks beautiful on its own in a decorative pot, but it also pairs well in companion plantings with other summer flowers. The simplest combinations are often the most striking – a pot or balcony box filled with lobelia in different colors can become a blooming eye-catcher. You can also plant lobelia with other summer favorites, such as petunia, ivy, marguerite daisy, trailing geranium, cosmos, marigold, or bacopa.

Tips from the gardener:

- Elin F. Nordli, plant scientist and writer at Plantasjen, with a master’s degree in horticulture and a special fondness for daylilies (Hemerocallis)

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