How to Save Cardinal Flower & Lobelia Seeds

Learn how and when to harvest and save Cardinal Flower & Lobelia Flower seeds. (Lobelia cardinalis & Lobelia siphilitica). I will show you the dos and don'ts for collecting the seed, and have some nice tips on removing the chaff easily. I also provide a nice overview of overwintering these plants.
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[@christineconleyartandmusic]

Thank you for this informative video. I am harvesting seeds for the first time and this helps. All the videos on how to pronounce lobelia, say lo-bee-lia, though.

[@Digeroo123]

It was name for a guy called Mathias de l'Obel. So perhaps the short e is correct.

[@loranelizabeth9148]

@@Digeroo123 It is the "i" that is missing. Otherwise, love the video! Just collected seeds today from the creekside and wondered if "that was them?"~~~

[@berniemcsharry4221]

Thanks a million for your video I'm am growing both plants for the first time this year. I'm living in zone 9 in the West of Ireland

[@growitbuildit]

You are very welcome Bernie!

[@poppythedeafcav]

Thanks so much, this is helpful. I was stressing on how to not lose them because I know they are sensitive with groundcover over the winter, so I now have a plan for reseeding!

[@growitbuildit]

You are very welcome - good luck keeping them alive this Winter. Please know that even if you keep them uncovered (Cardinal Flower), their lifespan is generally short. Most of the time mine only live for 2-3 years. It's just their nature, so you need to help it reseed if you want more each year.

[@Digeroo123]

I love these. I bought one small plant it was only £1.69 about $2.20 and it has grown huge. I has dark red/green leaves. It was a bit of an impulse buy, I had grown them before but never managed a flower, but this one the leaves were so pretty, I reckonned that might be enough. It had just one main shoot when I bought it about four inches tall, but it ended up with three fabulous flower heads, 6ft tall. I found it was a bog plant and I have very free draining soil, so I mulched it up and tried to keep the soil moist. It has flowered all summer. We don't have hummbing birds,but the bees seemed to visit. Loads of seed pods, though very few contained seed, but four did, so I have a nice tiny little pile of seed. Here's hoping some will germinate. It will be interesting see if any of the plants have the copper coloured leaves. Thanks for encouraging me to look for some seeds.

[@growitbuildit]

Excellent! If your species of Lobelia has the same germination process as mine then it should be easy. The seeds just need to be scattered on the surface of the soil and kept moist in late winter/ early spring. A lace that receives morning sun is best. Good luck!

[@Digeroo123]

@@growitbuildit It will certainly be giving it a try. I am a bit worried it might have crossed with the 2 inch high annual lobelia as there are no other cardinale near. But nothing ventured nothing gained. It came from a grocery supermarket as all the garden centres were closed in the lockdown. So I am unfortunately rather short of information about the plant. The price of the plant makes me think it was a seedling rather than a cutting. But I am hoping to hedge my bets and take a cutting as well. Another poster said they do not set seed here in the UK so seems I am very lucky. Maybe the humming bird hawk moth can do it. It might explain the few seeds, because they are only around for a short time when the weather is the warmest. There is a popular cardinale variety here called Queen Victoria, but that says max 3ft and mine towered over that. I was eyeballing the flowers.

[@growitbuildit]

Ok. Well, this will be an interesting experiment then. Some varieties can be pollinated by bumblebees . But others have to be done by hummingbirds or butterflies. I'll be curious to know your results. Good luck!

[@Digeroo123]

@@growitbuildit I have found a commercial seed seller who has Lobelia Cardinalis Queen Victoria, so have a packet on order. Queen Vic has the dark red/brown leaves I like. I and still going to try germinating my own seed because the plant became so tall. I still think the pollinator was the hummingbird hawk moth. I remember watching it one afternoon. They only tend to be around for a few weeks if it is very warm. They are spectacular. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJjCoap5Z7-Vjdk

[@margery2067]

Thank you ... very helpful. This is our 1st year having these gorgeous flowers. Wish I could send pictures

[@growitbuildit]

You are welcome Margery - I agree, these are some of the most elegant flowers in the world.

[@nfrowert]

This is incredibly helpful. Unfortunately I cut my one stalk (that took me 3 years to get established!) too early and wondered why I couldn’t find the seeds from the green seed pods. I will have to wait to harvest another year, after next year’s bloom. Thank you!

[@growitbuildit]

You are welcome - and there is always next year! Now you know what the seed pods look like, you may find some natural penstemons here and there in the wild. There is a lot of variation amongst local ecotypes.

[@nfrowert]

@@growitbuilditthank you so much. This is an awesome channel - I’m glad I found your videos.

[@growitbuildit]

Thank you!

[@otsparkle1]

Do you have a video on how to plant them? Do you winter sow them? This was very helpful, thank you!

[@growitbuildit]

Hi - check out this video at 4:58, it is for cardinal flower, but the process is identical for all Lobelia. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3qVdIh8g5qHb9k

[@Digeroo123]

A big thank you. I sowed my seed and now I have lots of little seedlings. They were so miniscule to start with, so small I had to use a magnifying glass to see that they had in fact germinated. Now three weeks later they are growing fast. Been rather dull here so they are getting extra light. There are far too many. The next stage is to hope that they have copper leaves. I am still worried they might have crossed with dwarf lobelia. Though I have never seen a scarlet dwarf lobelia so to achieve that might be very special. If it was possible someone would have done it. I am worried about them damping off, so they have a dusting of cinnamon powder which they seem to like. Have bought a packet of blue ones as well.

[@growitbuildit]

Hi - glad to hear you have some good germination. I always try to thin mine out and pot up a few extras. As far as damp off disease, the best solution I've found is to keep seedlings in morning sun and afternoon shade. And only water in the morning. Never water at night, as they may be sitting in moisture too long which gives conditions for damp off disease. I hope your cinnamon helps though, I've not done it myself.

[@shusha50]

Thanks for the video. Good to know how to collect seeds. appreciate it

[@growitbuildit]

You are very welcome! Sprinkling these seeds in disturbed areas can also propagate these. I'll do that from time to time, and I get quite a large number to germinate. Really a nice and easy way to spread the plant.

[@jackieisard5165]

Hi there, I'm a Botanical Artist in the UK and am painting a Lobelia Compton Pink. Your video on collecting seeds is really interesting to me as this plant never seeds in the UK. I really need to see what the seedhead looks like so I can paint it. I have tried pausing your video on the one that you dropped on the floor but it's a bit blurred for me to see clearly when paused. Is there any way you could please take a photo for me of that particular one? A photo of an individual seedhead showing the top part and sides too. You would be saving a really good painting which couldn't be finished without your help! Many, many thanks, Jackie

[@growitbuildit]

Hi Jackie - I would love to help you out. We're working on an article for our website right now that should be up this weekend. I'll make sure I get some nice pics and include them in that for you. Do you want the pictures against a white backing, like from the video? Or the plant as it stands now, perhaps with a white sheet of paper behind it? to show detail? Let me know, and I'll comment on here once the article is up! Thanks!

[@growitbuildit]

Jackie - I've added the article to our blog at growitbuildit.com/ and it should be the 1st article on the page at this moment. I put a gallery into the 'how to save seed' section of the article with several pictures. Please take a look and let me know if the pictures of the seedhead will help you out. If not, I can always take a few more and upload them.

[@jackieisard5165]

Oh that's fantastic, thank you so much! I need to see the individual seed head only, the pod with dead petals attached. The pod part is important and I would like to see what happens beneath inside (top view) too, how the inner cup looks from the outside so I can see how many sections it may have. Please would you take photos as clear/crisp as you can get them, so I can see detail to be able to paint it. A piece of paper behind would be fine but not in too bright sunlight as things tend to go blue/grey then! looking forward to seeing the photos, thanks again

[@jackieisard5165]

Oh super! I'll take a look now, thank you!

[@jackieisard5165]

Perfect!!! thanks a million :-)

[@ld1994]

you did not mention cold stratifying the seeds. They rarely germinate until they are chilled. do you refrigerate the seeds?

[@growitbuildit]

Hi - what I normally do, and in my opinion the best practice is to just winter sow the seeds. Or sow them when night time temperatures are still cool in early Spring. But, I have germinated them when temperatures were already warm, and without stratifying them. It just took longer to germinate (2-3 weeks if I remember). It's kind of a pain to germinate these in warmer temps with no cold treatment because it is harder to keep everything moist. I find it much better to do this in early Spring or winter-sow the seed. Here is my handy little guide to winter sowing - growitbuildit.com/illustrated-guide-to-winter-sowing-with-pictures/

[@bethking5518]

When is the best time to plant cardinal flower seeds?

[@growitbuildit]

Hi Beth - February or early March as they are helped by cold stratification. I usually Winter Sow my seeds between Christmas and New Years.

[@berniemcsharry4221]

Sorry me again I'm wondering if I can winter sow the seeds outside in a covered container thank you very much , Bernie

[@growitbuildit]

Hi Bernie - you can definitely Winter Sow these seeds. That is how I do it.

[@berniemcsharry4221]

@@growitbuilditHi I'm trying to send you an image of what I thought was Great Blue Lobelia its Bernie from Ireland . Do you sell blue Lobelia and Cardinal flower seeds,v I'd love

[@growitbuildit]

Hi Bernie, I'm sorry but I don't sell seeds.

[@davegarber7964]

low-Beél-ee-ah, sí?

[@ronnamoore8046]

It is pronounced low.beel.yuh :)