Lobelia

The lobelia plant (Lobelia) is a representative of the Kolokolchikov family. This genus includes herbaceous plants as well as shrubs of various sizes. Lobelia representatives can have a long-term development cycle or be annuals. There are about 300 different species of this plant. Lobelias live literally all over the world, but most of the species prefer to grow in the subtropical zone.

The flower got its name in honor of the Flemish M. de L'Aubel, who headed the Royal Botanic Garden in London. Of the many types of lobelia, only about 20 are used in gardening. Saturated shades of numerous delicate lobelia flowers can decorate any flower garden. No less often, the plant is used to decorate balconies. It is quite easy to grow such a flower from seeds.

Some types are considered medicinal - they are included in the composition of drugs that help with pulmonary diseases. However, lobelia is a poisonous plant.

Description of lobelia

In culture, perennial lobelia is most often grown, turning it into a seasonal annual. Such plants are spherical bushes about 20 cm high, although there are species of a larger (up to 1.5 m) size. Graceful stems of bushes branch from the base. On them are lanceolate leaves of bright green color. Flowers about 2 cm in size bloom on small pedicels in the axils of the leaves. Their upper petals are small and narrow, and the lower ones are larger and are arranged in the form of a fan.

Flower coloration includes shades of violet, blue and cyan, as well as white or magenta. Lobelia blooms almost all summer, from June to autumn. After flowering, boxes with many tiny seeds are tied. Their germination capacity lasts for about 3 years.

Brief rules for growing lobelia

The table shows a brief summary of the rules for growing lobelia outdoors.

Growing lobelia from seeds

Sowing seeds

Most often, lobelia is grown from seed. In order for the bushes to bloom by the beginning of summer, the seeds are sown for seedlings in February.Sowing can be carried out all spring, but lobelia will begin to bloom only after 2.5-3 months.

The rate of development of seedlings depends on the variety of the plant, as well as on the color of its flowers. It is believed that the most rapidly developing lobelia with blue or blue flowers. Purple and lilac species are considered more demanding to care for, and white-flowered species grow the slowest.

For sowing, containers or cassettes with a height of about 5 cm are used. A drainage layer is laid on the bottom of the container, and on top it is covered with a layer of soil containing sand or coconut fiber. The soil is moistened and waited for the earth to settle. It should also be disinfected before planting. Seeds are spread over the soil surface without deepening. For convenience, you can mix the seed with sand. If the seeds were purchased in the form of dragees, they are sprayed with water to soften the shell. In this case, it is more convenient to immediately plant one dragee per cassette or peat tablet.

To prevent the seeds from drying out, you can lightly sprinkle them with sand. From above, the container is covered with film or glass, and then placed in a bright place, but not under direct rays. The seedlings should appear about a week after sowing.

Lobelia seedlings

Lobelia seedlings love moisture and do not tolerate overdrying of the soil. Due to the high dryness of the soil and air, seedlings may become thinner. If the room temperature is high enough, it is recommended to keep the crops under a film, keeping an eye on the soil moisture. In order not to harm fragile sprouts, watering can be done through the pallet.

Moderate coolness will have a positive effect on the development of seedlings. Adult lobelia are able to develop even at low freezing temperatures, but an abrupt change in conditions of detention should be avoided.

In the first month, the seedlings develop relatively slowly, but later they begin to gain momentum. When the sprouts reach 3-4 cm in size, they are dived into individual containers with a volume of about 0.1 liters, placing the plants in groups of 3-5 pieces.

When the plants reach a height of 6-7 cm, they can be pinched. This will facilitate the branching of the bushes. Seedlings begin to bloom even before planting.

Planting lobelia outdoors

The best time and place to land

Lobelia seedlings are transferred to the ground after the frost has passed. For flowers, a sunny spot with moderately nutritious and fairly loose soil is best. It can be loamy or sandy loam. In shading, the flowering of the plantings will not be so lush. Certain types of lobelia grow best near water bodies.

Do not apply too much nitrogen fertilizer to the flower beds. In this case, the bushes will begin to actively form foliage, and not buds. When planting, the seedlings are placed in the holes in the same groups, without dividing. The distance between the holes should be about 15 cm. Gradually growing bushes form a continuous flower cushion.

Landing features

In order not to sow lobelia annually, you can try to keep its bushes until spring. To do this, in the fall, the plants are dug up and transplanted into pots. Containers with bushes are kept in a cool greenhouse or in a house until the next season, and then returned to the ground again.

To preserve the varietal characteristics of lobelia, vegetative propagation can be used. For this, the necessary plants are also transplanted into mobile containers and kept cool throughout the winter. In the spring, cuttings up to 10 cm long are cut from plantings and planted in their own pots. After rooting, the seedlings can be transferred to the beds. Cuttings of old bushes can also be used as seedlings. The division procedure is carried out in the spring, as soon as young shoots appear on the plants.

Lobelia care in the garden

Watering

Caring for such flowers is quite simple. The main requirement for lobelia is regular watering. The ground around the bushes should remain slightly damp at all times. It is especially important to monitor this condition during periods of drought and heat. Ampel plants grown in hanging containers are watered twice a day.At the same time, the constant stagnation of water can harm the flowers. To prevent unwanted waterlogging, the containers for growing lobelia should be supplemented with a drainage layer.

Top dressing

Over the summer, lobelia is fed several times with compositions for flowering plants. Usually, feeding is carried out 2-3 times, first 2 weeks after transplanting into the ground, and then during flowering. To activate bud formation, one should choose compositions with a minimum nitrogen content, or without it at all. But excess nutrients can cause stains on lobelia foliage.

Pruning

To preserve its decorative effect, lobelia can be trimmed periodically. The first haircut is carried out after the first wave of flowering. For this, the shoots of the plant are cut at a level of 5 cm from the ground. Soon after shearing, the planting will give fresh shoots and begin to form buds again.

Modern varieties of lobelia often do not have a pronounced separation of flowering waves, therefore, they do not need additional stimulation in the form of pruning.

Lobelia after flowering

In autumn, after flowering, lobelia bushes grown as annuals can be removed from the beds along with other plantings. At the same time, you can collect seeds from the bushes. To do this, the aerial part of the plant should be shaken over a piece of paper. The seeds will begin to spill out of the ripe bolls. After removing excess litter from the sheet, the seeds are poured into a paper bag for storage, signing the type and variety on it, as well as the date of their collection.

If desired, the bushes can be left on the site until spring. In this case, they will be able to self-seed, but such lobelias will bloom much later than seedlings.

Types and varieties of lobelia with photos and names

Annual species

Some plant species, due to their thermophilicity and ease of reproduction, are grown in gardens only as annuals.

Lobelia erinus

Or border, black, blue. This South African species is considered one of the most common. It is also called curb or blue. This species forms small bushes and can reproduce by layering. Small foliage has slightly wavy edges. Flowering continues until frost. During this period, blue, white, blue or lilac-pink flowers appear on the plant. Their small size (up to 1.5 cm) is compensated by the abundance of flowering. Lobelia erinus has several forms, differing in the appearance of the bushes and the size of the shoots. Among them:

• Dwarf - the height of the bushes is up to 12 cm.
• Compact - ball bushes up to 20 cm high.
• Climbing (hanging) - ampelous plants.
• Upright - height up to 25 cm.
• Sprawling - height up to 15 cm with a length of shoots up to 30 cm.

Popular varieties:

• Kaiser Wilhelm - with medium-sized bright blue flowers.
• Regatta is a cultivar group of ampelous plants with flowers of various colors. The shoots are about 25 cm long.
• Riviera is an early flowering cultivar with flowers of different shades of blue and purple, as well as white flowers and spherical bushes. The foliage is green in color, but may include shades of bronze.
• Sapphire is an ampelous variety with light green foliage and blue-white flowers.
• String of Pearls is a mixture of undersized varieties that form spherical bushes.
• White Lady - forms compact bushes up to 15 cm tall. The flowers are snow-white.

Lobelia valida

The species significantly resembles the compact Erinus lobelia, but has more powerful stems and foliage. Lobelia valida flowers are also quite large. Their color is blue or purple, complemented by a light spot in the center of the flower.

The climbing shape of the Erinus lobelia is quite similar to the Ricardi hybrid lobelia. This is an ampelous variety, characterized by the large size of the bush and the power of the shoots. Due to its hybrid origin, this species does not produce seeds and reproduces only by cuttings.

Lobelia tenuior

Australian species, forms miniature bushes up to 35 cm high.Lobelia tenuior blooms with lilac, white or blue flowers about 2 cm in size.

Perennial species

Lobelia fine (Lobelia speciosa)

Some types of lobelia can be grown as both a perennial and an annual. These include beautiful lobelia, obtained by hybridization. The height of its bushes reaches 1 m, and the size of bright flowers reaches 3 cm. Lobelia x spesiosa is very hardy, but has several more thermophilic annual varieties.

Lobelia brilliant (Lobelia fulgens)

Or fiery. The maximum height of such a plant reaches 90 cm. Lobelia fulgens can have red or green foliage. Flowering occurs at the end of summer and lasts until autumn. Common varieties and hybrids:

• Victoria - with scarlet flowers and dark foliage.
• Russian princess - meter bushes with pink flowers

Lobelia dortmanna

Red Book view. Lobelia dortmanna lives on sandy river banks at a depth of up to 80 cm. The presence of such plants in the water testifies to its purity. This species has straight shoots, decorated with pale blue, burgundy or snow-white flowers.

Lobelia gerardii

It is a very frost-resistant species that can withstand temperatures as low as -29 degrees. Lobelia gerardii forms tall (over 1 m) bushes with spikelet inflorescences. Flowering is long enough. The most famous variety - Vedrariensis - with purple-green foliage and deep purple flowers.

Lobelia purple (Lobelia cardinalis)

Either purple or cardinal. American species, forms 1 meter bushes. The name Lobelia cardinalis is associated with the bright color of its flowers, reminiscent of the color of the cardinal's mantle. It is known that the Indians used this plant for medicinal purposes. The species is considered moderately frost-resistant, but for the winter requires shelter or moving to room conditions. Due to the flower's love of moisture, it is sometimes grown near water bodies or in aquariums.

Lobelia sesilifolia

A species with moderate frost resistance. If there is a risk of a very cold or snowless winter, the bushes should be covered with mulch. Lobelia sesilifolia forms inflorescences at the tops of the shoots. They include lilac or blue flowers.

Lobelia blue (Lobelia siphilitica)

An American species that later spread to European countries. Forms inflorescences-spikelets of bright blue-violet flowers. The Latin name Lobelia siphilitica is due to the fact that the flower was for some time considered a cure for syphilis. Subsequently, this theory was refuted. Today the plant is widely used for hybridization. For example, on the basis of its crossing with other lobelias, a widespread hybrid variety series Compliment was obtained with bushes up to 75 cm high and large flowers of various colors.

Lobelia in landscape design

Lobelia with flowers of a blue, blue hue and decorative leaves has gained great popularity among landscape designers for the possibility of using it to decorate garden and backyard plots, to create flower arrangements and landscaping borders. The plant feels great not only in the beds, but also fully develops in garden vases, tubs and other flower containers. Flowering continues throughout the summer and ends in late autumn.

Lobelia can be used both in group plantings and in common flower beds. Most often, such plants decorate the lower or middle tier of mixborders, and also combine them with similar creeping plants with small flowers: lobularia, Iberis, etc. Flowers will look no less impressive in contrast with slightly larger and brighter plants, as well as decorative -leaf species.

Ampel lobelia species are usually grown not in the beds, but in hanging pots. Such plants can decorate both the garden and the house, veranda or balcony.