Lobelia laxiflora

[ChrisB]

First saw this one on a garden visit to Sussex a few years ago, and bought it straight away.  It was a great big clump in the garden I visited, and looked wonderful.  It does spread stoloniferously for me, but not enough to make a clump.  I'm either too far north weatherwise or else it doesn't like sandy soil.  I think the latter really, as most lobelias I have need more moisture than I can give them so they don't thrive.  But it does give me a few flowers every year and is hardy here ....

[Paul T]

Chris,

I'll check with the people I got mine from, but I got the impression the garden it was in was a "left to itself" type garden, and therefore not watered much at all.  It was definitely a full sun garden, and everything was overgrown amongst each other so I would imagine there was a lot of competition for any water.  Maybe your problem is more of sun rather than not enough water?  When I saw it the other day it was flowering madly, pretty much every stem had flowers all up it.  Because it tended to run freely it wasn't a thick clump or anything like that, more like a colony that was spread amongst everything else.  I don't know how long they've had it (but will ask) so I don't know how quickly it multiplied, but it was in various places amongst things over a couple of metres wide in total, probably more.  I'd be putting it in the "can't kill" basket judging by what I saw in this garden, but looks can be deceiving of course.  I note that the synonym of Lobelia laxiflora is L. mexicana, so I would have been assuming (perhaps incorrectly) that it may have come from a hotter and drier climate?

[Lesley Cox]

The big lobelias really do like lots of water but all the same, survive with much less, just growing to a lesser height. My L. tupa is almost under the eaves on the sunny side of the house and is bone dry except when I remember to throw the coffee grounds on it. It grows to about a metre and flowers wonderfully. But the same plant in Dunedin Bot. Gardens in a perennial border, grows to at least 2 metres. Mine suckers but in a restrained way, thank goodness. It's not looking too brilliant right now because the dog we're dog-sitting has taken to lying on top of it in the warmth. Paul, even though in a sunny garden, yours could be quite moist because of the closeness of the surrounding growth.

[Paul T]

Lesley,

That's possible, but it is certainly the drier part of the garden as it is right at the top of a long slope the house/garden is built on.  I will ask the owners about how much water the area gets, but you're right there would be some insulation from everything else, so the actual surface doesn't get the heat of the sun either, which would make a big difference to moisture levels in our climate.

[ChrisB]

I'm beginning to think you have a different lobelia to mine then, mine certainly grows by underground stolons, but stays fairly clumpy, and the stand I saw in Suffolk was about 4ft tall and about as much in diameter, but yes, with blooms on the end of every stem.  Up here it only gets to about 2ft.  Must try moving some to a sunnier spot and seeing if that helps.  The chap in Suffolk had his in a very nice soil near a pond, and it looked as if the area was quite damp all of the time.

I grow L. tupa too Lesley, mine only reaches about 2ft but flowers nevertheless.  I think it may do a bit better now I've removed the six foot high and wide phormium though.... it was trying to grow behind it in shade and dry soil.  Should improve some next year I hope.  it too seems to shift around underground.

[mark smyth]

any L. tupa I see over hear easily reach 8 feet

[ChrisB]

Yes, Mark, I've seen them in their glory like that.  And you get all the rain before it reaches Northumberland so although you have the enormity of them, I can go look at them without binoculars and an umbrella.....lol

[Andrew]

Carlo,

Yes it is reminiscent of a Fuchsia in a lot of ways, but are they stoloniferous.

Not exactly stoloniferous but when I bought my house, there was a large one too close to it so I dug it out and it shot from the roots I had left in !!

[Lesley Cox]

Fuchsias - or some, anyway - will grow from root cuttings.