Lobelia - beautiful garden plant with a lush cloud of small flowers. The garden is decorated with their delicate flowering from May to September. Lobelia looks great in hanging pots and flowerpots, and in land plantings in flowerbeds. When arranging flowerbeds, you can use and combine with each other different varieties and colors of lobelia or shade the delicate beauty of lobelia with other decorative colors. Lobelia - perennial plant, but grows and blooms year-round only in the tropics and in countries with very warm climates. In our latitudes, lobelia is sown every year and grown mainly through seedlings. Seedlings of various varieties of lobelia can be purchased at garden centers.
Did you know? If the gardener finally got lobelia a perennial coveted variety, then in the northern areas it can be saved from freezing by digging and storing the rhizomes in the basement until spring.
If the gardener has purchased the seeds of the varieties of lobelia that you like, you can grow the seedlings yourself. The seeds of lobelia are smaller than the poppy seed. For early and abundant flowering they are sown in early February. Since the seeds are small, they are simply scattered over the surface of the soil and sprayed with water. Capacity with seeded seeds covered with glass. A month after germination, thin seedlings of lobelia spikes in separate pots. In the future, it needs only timely watering and good lighting, and at the end of May your lobelia will bloom. On the street lobelia planted in early May.
For a spectacular view of the flowerbed on which lobelia grows, it is recommended to select species and plant varieties so that they emphasize and complement each other in flowering. Varieties with tall shrubs look better in the background of a flower arrangement in a flowerbed, and dwarf varieties are best seen when planted on a curb. A variety with dark purple flowers better shade neighboring bushes with blue or snow-white bloom.
Did you know? By combining the colors of plants, you can achieve spectacular flowering of your flower bed throughout the summer.
Lobelia erinus (dlinnochereshkovaya)
Lobelia garden or curb, blue, blackberry - all these names refer to Lobelia Erinus. The homeland of this flower is South Africa. The best ornamental varieties of lobelia are the varieties of lobelia erinus. Lobelia of this species is a perennial, with a grassy bush of spherical shape and dense green foliage. The bushes are low, the maximum height of the plant is 20-25 cm. The leaves are small, narrow and elongated, with slightly jagged edges.
This species is characterized by small flowers, double-lipped, abundantly sleepy bush. Flowers are arranged on a short pedicel. Flowering begins two or two and a half months after sowing. Grown as an annual. The color of flowers varies all shades of blue, blue, purple and white.
Garden lobelia erinus is of five types:
- Pendula is a lobelia erinus ampella variety, a plant with long hanging stems. The length of the stems covered with flowers reaches 35 cm. This species is used for planting in pots and for balcony gardening;
- Erecta - upright, bush in the form of a column, plant height 20-25 cm;
- Compacta is a compact, form forming a low bush. Well leafy, with a bush height of 10-15 cm;
- Diffusa - sprawling, forms a small bush up to 15 cm. Stems on a bush are long, with a mass of small flowers, spreading, sometimes reaching 30-35 cm in length;
- Pumila - dwarf, lobelia of this variety has a height of bushes up to 12 cm, the shortest type of lobelia.
Thanks to the ongoing selection work, gardeners have a huge selection of varieties of lobelia erinus.
Bush varieties of lobelia erinus:
Sort Crystal Palace (Crystal Palace) - abundantly flowering variety, on a bush more than 60-80 simultaneously loose small flowers. Flowers rich purple.
Sort Emperor William (Emperor Willy) - dwarf shrub, not higher than 10 cm in height. The color of the flowers is blue. Looks good in curb plantings.
Variety Mys Clibran - widely spreading bush, flowering area of the plant in diameter takes up to 30 cm. This lobelia is up to 15 cm high, and the flowers of this variety with elegant color are bright purple flower petals and a white middle.
Cambridge Blue Sort (Cambridge Blue) - small plant bush, lush, twigs up to 10 cm long. It blooms pale purple with a small shade of blue flowers.
Grade White Palace (White Palace) - bush-bouquet, from the root to the cap up to 12 cm in height, flowers snow-white, airy, 1-2 cm in diameter.
Lobelia varieties of ampelous with names:
Variety Sapphire (Sapphire) - a flower with lush, drooping stems. The length of the stems is up to 35 cm. It blooms with small, blue with white spots on the petals, flowers.
Fountain Blue Grade (Blue Fountain) - on a bush of 6-8 stalks. The length of the shoots up to 30 cm. Shoots fall down fluffy, blooming blue fountain. The flowers are blue with a white spot.
Red cascade grade (Red cascade) - A bush with well developed, strong shoots (up to 35 cm long) and abundant flowering. Despite the name, the variety blooms in lilac with the addition of slightly pink. Lobelia of this variety is often sold with a description of blooming red flowers. But this is an exaggeration; breeders have not yet received a red lobelia.
Description varieties of Lobelia Cardinal (purple)
Lobelia cardinal or purple (Lobelia cardinalis) is a perennial winter-hardy variety of lobelia. Plants of this species form tall bushes with non-drooping stems. The height of the bushes reaches a meter. The flowers are small, scarlet, collected in high stalks in the form of an ear. This type of lobelia is an excellent “wetter”, therefore it needs abundant watering.
It can be planted in the lowlands and marshy areas of the garden plot. Being planted along the shore of the pond, the Cardinal Lobelia is rapidly expanding, occupying not only the coastal territory, but also shallow water. When landing at the pond, the flowering of the Cardinal Lobelia will be more magnificent. The grade practically does not freeze.
Lobelia sparkling
Lobelia brilliant (Lobelia fulgens) has the second name Lobelia fiery. The plant is perennial, but needs good shelter in the winter months. The flowers are red, the diameter of the flower is 2.5 cm. A tall plant with a bush from 70 cm to 1.5 meters. Leaf color is determined by the variety and can vary from green to red. The most spectacular variety of lobelia brilliant is the red-flowered variety Queen Victoria, which is one and a half meters tall and has purple leaves.
Lobelia blue (Lobelia siphilitica)
Lobelia syphilitic or lobelia blue (Lobelia siphilitica) is a perennial plant. Blue or purple flowers of this species of lobelia are collected on the inflorescence in the shape of a spikelet. The bush is tall, upright, not sprawling. Variety brought from America. The name of the plant was given erroneously at the time when this type of lobelia was introduced to Europe.
People believed that this flower cured syphilis. The delusion with time vanished, but the name remained. The look is not particularly decorative, so it is not widely spread. But it served as the basis for the development of hybrid forms of lobelia. The result of the crossing of blue, purple and brilliant lobelia was the famous variety Compliment.
Lobelia Dortmann
Lobelia Dortmann (Lobelia dortmanna) - almost extinct plant listed in the Red Book. In the wild, it settles along the banks of ponds and in shallow water at a depth of 60-80 cm. When the stalks of the plant overgrow the line of water cover, lobelia blooms. Dortmann lobelia flowers are white or blue, the flower is bell-shaped.
Did you know? Lobelia Dortmann strengthens the bottom of reservoirs with its roots and is a good honey plant.
Lobelia is beautiful
Lobelia is beautiful (Lobelia speciosa) - a beautiful perennial. Tall beautiful bush. The height of this type of lobelia is up to a meter, with large flowers (up to 3 cm in diameter) of bright color. The plant is relatively winter-hardy; in the southern regions it winters without shelter; in cold climates it is grown as an annual or winters under a dense shelter.
Important! If lobelia is covered with agrofibre and polyethylene for the winter, it will not freeze.
Lobelia - beautiful flower with weightless openwork blooms. With a good selection of varieties and a combination of colors, you can create a magical garden, the flowering of which will amaze and delight all summer.
