Echter's Plant Finder

Group/Class:  Palace Series

Description:

Eye-catching deep blue blooms over bronze-green foliage flow over hanging baskets and containers for an attractive display; long blooming, from early summer to frost; looks great in borders and beds; deadhead to encourage new blooms

Ornamental Features

Crystal Palace Lobelia features dainty royal blue flowers with white eyes at the ends of the stems from mid spring to mid fall. Its tiny narrow leaves remain green in color with hints of coppery-bronze throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Crystal Palace Lobelia is an herbaceous annual with a mounded form. It brings an extremely fine and delicate texture to the garden composition and should be used to full effect.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep. Trim off the flower heads after they fade and die to encourage more blooms late into the season. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Crystal Palace Lobelia is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Rock/Alpine Gardens
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Groundcover
• Container Planting
• Hanging Baskets

Planting & Growing

Crystal Palace Lobelia will grow to be only 5 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 8 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 6 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. Although it's not a true annual, this fast-growing plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant should be grown in a location with partial shade or which is shaded from the hot afternoon sun. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America. It can be propagated by cuttings; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Crystal Palace Lobelia is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor containers and hanging baskets. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers against which the thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.