Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-1114
Cardinal Flower
Lobelia cardinalis
Cardinal Flower produces tall spikes of brilliant scarlet tubular flowers from late spring into fall, planted almost entirely for the hummingbirds that work them. Every part of the plant is poisonous if eaten, containing an alkaloid with a nicotine-like action, though its root and leaf have a long history of use in small medicinal preparations. It needs consistently moist to wet ground and struggles through long stretches of very hot weather, so it does best at a pond edge or stream margin rather than a dry bed. Individual plants are short-lived, but a stand renews itself from self-sown seed and from stems that root wherever they touch damp mud.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun · Shade
- USDA zone
- USDA 3–9
- Soil
- Loam · Clay · Sand
- Moisture
- Moist · Wet
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- Not yet recorded
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 2–4 ft
- Mature spread
- 12–24 in
- Plant spacing
- 12–36 in
- Root type
- Not yet recorded
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
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Agrimony
Agrimonia eupatoria
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Alsike Clover
Trifolium hybridum
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Amaranth Greens
Amaranthus tricolor
Amaranth greens are one of the few leafy vegetables actually built for peak summer heat rather than one that just tolerates it - sown once…
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Angelica
Angelica archangelica
Angelica is a very large, short-lived umbellifer grown for its candied stem and aromatic root - the thick young stalks are peeled and boiled…
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Anise
Pimpinella anisum
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The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
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- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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