Cardinal Flower: Natural Hummingbird Feeder
For those of you who love hummingbirds and have a moist to wet spot in your garden, consider adding Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) to your garden. Hummingbirds are attracted by the red color and tubular shaped flowers. It is kind of a finicky plant as its short lived (<5 years) and requires consistently moist to wet soil. In the past, I have tried to force it into areas that too dry for it do well…but this year, I have had better luck with a spot by our back patio and along the north side of our house intermixed with some ostrich ferns. Since its short lived, make sure to let it go to seed after its done blooming and either start new plants over the winter (aka winter sowing) or scatter the seeds around the garden to let them naturally germinate. If you do the latter, make sure not to cover them up with soil as they do need light to germinate.
