Cardinal Flower
Lobelia cardinalis
Scarlet spikes tuned precisely to hummingbird eyes. You will hear them buzzing before you see them. At home in rain gardens and wet edges.
Typically 1 pint–1 gal · $9–$30 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
The single best hummingbird plant for moist gardens. scarlet-red spikes tuned to hummingbird vision, self-seeding habit, and peak bloom during fall migration.
Cardinal Flower is the hummingbird plant. The intense scarlet-red blooms, a shade of red so saturated it almost looks artificial, are precisely tuned to the color sensitivity of hummingbirds, which see red clearly while most insects cannot. In August, when the flower spikes are at peak bloom, you will hear hummingbirds buzzing around your garden before you see them. This is the plant that brings them in. Plant it at the edge of a water feature, in a rain garden, or along a shaded slope where moisture collects. It self-seeds reliably in moist conditions, so a single plant becomes a colony over three to four seasons. Pair it with Blue Cardinal Flower for a classic native combination that blooms side by side in late summer and doubles the wildlife attraction.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown cardinal flower propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Moist
- Mature size
- 2–4 ft · 12–18 in wide
- Bloom time
- July–September
- USDA zones
- 3–9
- Family
- Campanulaceae
- Native range
- North and Central America. moist to wet soils, stream banks, and woodland edges from New Brunswick to Minnesota south to Florida and Texas
Care notes for cardinal flower.
Plant in partial shade to full sun in consistently moist to wet, humus-rich soil. Cardinal Flower cannot tolerate dry conditions. consistent moisture is essential. Allow self-seeding to naturalize the colony; seedlings transplant easily when small. Divide established clumps in fall after bloom. Mulch heavily in cold climates to protect the crown through winter. Remove spent spikes to encourage lateral flowering shoots.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside cardinal flower.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.