Lobelia laxiflora, was Syphilantha

Brook Klehm bklehm@comcast.net
Tue, 10 Jan 2006 10:32:06 PST
Hello,
	I keep telling myself that I'll keep up to date in reading the 
postings...

	Lobelia laxiflora is in the trade in California and I've seen it 
listed in the Pacific Northwest as well.  However, the selection in the 
trade is L. laxiflora angustifolia.  The flowers are the same as those 
pictured, but the foliage is lanceolate.  And the internodes are short. 
  In my garden, it grew to 30" (70cm?) tall and bloomed late spring to 
mid summer.  It is rhizomatous and will spread far in time.  I've seen 
it growing through a hedge and becoming an ineradicable element in the 
garden (read: weed).  I've been told that it blooms non-stop in barely 
irrigated sand in San Diego.  The stems are frost sensitive in wet, 
Northern California winters, though the roots seem hardy.
	I've seen the form listed in the Plant Delights catalog while 
traveling in southern Mexico, but never the selection that is in the 
trade.  I have trouble imagining the lanky form in a garden, but it 
might settle into a casual, "wild" garden attractively.

Brook


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