Plant of the month - July no. 1

Lobelia (erinus)

Most of us are familiar with the sight of dainty blue flowers hanging trailing from the sides of hanging baskets and pots in the height of summer; these are lobelia.

There are two main types used in the garden, the upright and trailing type. The upright type can be used as edging at the front of a border, but both are suitable for use in pots and baskets.

The plant is actually a tender perennial but is usually grown as an annual. It can be grown easily from seed, bought in spring as plug plants or (more costly) as more mature plants from nurseries/ garden centres.

Low growing plants, they have a tendency to spread and prefer sun/ light shade. They do best if they are watered and fed regularly.

Traditionally the colour of the flowers were limited to light & dark blue and white, you can now find violet, pink and reddish-purple flowering types.

They cannot cope with frost and never survive outside. If you have a heated greenhouse it may be worth trying to pot on a few and overwintering them.