Lobelia needs a lot of moisture to thrive and we've had a pretty dry summer. If you haven't supplied sufficient supplemental watering that would explain the withering.

I agree, but honestly I've never had luck with cardinal flower. Other varieties of red lobelia, yes, but not cardinalis. I even planted it in my water garden, but it still flopped and broke. It's got very weak stems and never did well for me. Don't depend on one plant if you like hummers. Plant other stuff for them. They love rose of sharon, lantana, zinnias, butterfly bushes, crocosmia, petunias, bee balm, etc. Or put out a feeder. There's lots of stuff that you can use to attract them.

Thank you for your responses. I agree about planting many other flowers that attracks Hummers and we have, many of which was listed in one of the last responses. We have enjoyed the Hummers all summer. It was just a surprise that the Cardinal flower did not do as well as last year. This year we added the Black and Blue salvia and the Bee Balm has been fantastic. We have 3 beds of bee balme for them.

Thanks Lary

I'd plant more L cardinalis and try again. They like organic material. This year I have had to water to keep the party going. They also re-seed I'm told altho it appears I only have 1 seedling this year off the parent plant. I really love this plant and now think of it as a mainstay in the garden. They are so upright you can plant them anywhere. Sorry you've had trouble with stem strength Nancy - I have had the opposite experience, they are almost woody. They also benefit from being mixed in with a lot of lily bulbs and I use Bulbtone once or twice a year, and this year also used SweetPeet to mulch in that bed. They seem to like their root zone a bit protected.

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