North central Indiana
I’m new to native gardening. Last fall I bought a number of plants from a native plant sale and all are looking amazing this spring…except my cardinal flower. It just doesn’t look happy. It’s been rainy. It’s on the north side of the house, but the back corner, so does get at least a couple hours of sun a day.
Advice?
by Only_Fishing_8538
9 Comments
Looks normal for early april!
Several cardinal flowers in my garden are also looking sad. Im also new but IIRC these are late season bloomers so can take some time waking up.
They tend to pop up pretty late, I’d say give it until later in April. It has a decently healthy looking basal rosette so I don’t think you should be worried.
They generally look pretty disheveled at this point, I wouldn’t worry too much yet
it looks normal for early April. they do like more full sun for best blooms but you have to balance that with wet soil.
I agree with the others it looks normal for early spring! I have a lot of these, love all the lobelias
Keep in mind many natives prioritize roots for a long time before the above ground parts. It’s busy growing right now just not where you can see it. It will be worth the wait, even if it doesn’t bloom this year
Also the cardinal flowers in part shade still flower for me but they are much smaller than their sunny counterparts across the yard
Looks good to me. They always look a little rough this time of year.
I grow lots of cardinal flower and agree this looks normal. It generally prefers much more than 2 hours of sunlight per day (and plenty of moisture), but I’ve seen it growing (and blooming) in dappled sunlight along streams. It might not bloom vigorously where you’ve got it, but I bet it will bloom nonetheless this summer. Keep in mind that cardinal flower is a “short-lived” perennial: individual plants often only live about 3 years, with the first year (last year for your nursery plant) being a non-bloom year when the plant focuses on the basal leaf growth (what is in your picture). But it reseeds like crazy – one plant can release thousands of seeds. If you collect the seeds in the fall and either winter sow or cold stratify them, you will have no trouble growing many more plants. It is generally one of the easiest native plants to grow from seed. Keep in mind that deer will eat cardinal flower, so protect it if you don’t already have a fence or something like that.
my spouse and i call ours “sad spinach” until about mid-july.