The
blue lobelia represented a pretty group of dwarf-growing,
wiry-habited, free-flowering plants, mostly of a shade
of blue, but occasionally of a white, rosy purple or
a pucy pink.
According
to the treatment they received, they could be either
annuals or perennials - hot dry summers tended to see
them only as annuals, but a wet cool summer might see
them survive through to the next season.
A
quick way of making stock was to 'tear the plants to
pieces in the autumn' and pot the little rooted tufts
in sandy soil and store them away in a greenhouse or
pit. They could also be propagated by cuttings, or from
growing from seed.
Lobelias
required a deep, rich, moist soil. If the garden soil
was poor and dry, then it needed to be enriched with
plenty of leaf mould, rotten turf, and old hotbed
manure. They should be protected from frosts in winter
(perhaps over-wintering in a greenhouse or pit).
There
were two British varieties: L. urens, a rare
plant generally found on the heaths near Axminster,
and L. Dortmanna, a rather showy water-plant
with blue flowers. The usual plants grown in the Victorian
border were natives of Mexico, L. cardinalis, L.
splendens and L. fulgens, or of the Cape
of Good Hope, L. bicolor and L. campanulata.
