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beaniebeagle

an easy way to propagate cardinal flower with my pond

beaniebeagle
11 years ago

Some of my stems flopped over in my yard last summer and I decided to see if one of them would root in my pond. I put it in upright in a foot of water without cutting the up the stem. I only removed the flowers. But of course it kept falling over on its side and I just left it floating, A few weeks later I noticed growth along multple points along the stem with roots forming. They were small and I decided to not bother to try potting them up in the fall since I had no where to put them.

Throughout the winter, the roots got longer.

Today when I decided to start cleaning up the pond, I had 6 of these growths from a single stem.

I still have to see if they will survive being potted up in soil.

Comments (5)

  • ctnchpr
    11 years ago

    Thanks for posting this info, you can never have too many CF's. That clump you're holding looks like it has more than 1 plant, and with roots like that, they shouldn't have any trouble surviving!

  • terrene
    10 years ago

    Wow that is cool, please update the thread when you find out what happens when you transplant to soil. I think I've read on the houseplant forum that some roots that have been in water too long, or something like that don't do well in soil?

    I agree you can never have too much L. cardinalis. It is a top hummingbird plant in my gardens! I seem to have more every year, because it invariably reseeds itself here and there. It seems to prefer odd places such as the edge of the garden bed or in the middle of the wood chip path. I love stumbling on little cardinal flower seedlings! And then I transplant them to a new garden patch, or give some away.

  • NCgardenmouse
    10 years ago

    Do you think it could live (without taking over!) in a pond either as a floater or potted up? I ask because in my area of NC finding plants for my pond is quite difficult. I have 2 water lilies & an iris along with some goldfish now, but would like to achieve a lusher look. The pic is from last summer at start up, the papyrus & elephant ear didn't make it through the winter.

  • dave_k_gw
    10 years ago

    Yesterday the gas company ran a new supply line to my meter. I can't complain, I only lost two plants, a Cardinal Flower (there are others) and a Lantana. Remembering the above, I saved the Cardinal Flower stalk in three sections wrapped in wet newspaper. Also the flower head in the pic. Probably I'm wrong, but it sure looks like small roots are already forming on that. If so, it'll be the fastest rooting I've ever seen.

  • cathryn54
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    I am SO glad I saw this! We have the native Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal flower)and the nativar Lobelia cardinalis "Black Truffles" planted beside Impatiens capensis (Jewelweed) and hummingbirds love all of them and we see them all the time! Unfortunately, Mazus pumilus has grown in the favorable conditions and took over last year. So we dug up the plants, transplanted and 'solarized' the weedy soil down to a depth of one foot. Added new soil, replaced the plants and the weeds started up again this year, although not as badly.

    Last year we had a "spring-fed" stream installed in the back yard with a waterfall of one foot which empties to a small pond of about 8" and physically connects to a dry creek bed. So, being able to root Lobelia (both types) in the stream will solve the weed issues, provided I wash the roots first. Whenever I place plants in my stream, I pot them in a plastic pot with holes and netting to prevent peat moss from escaping. This way the roots have something to hold on to. The water level is always above the top of the pot, to prevent mosquitoes from laying eggs in the pot water, which if above the water line, would remain stagnant.

    The great thing about the "Black Truffles" variety, even though it only provides 80 percent of nectar as the true native, is that it bloomed first and the hummingbirds came to that and then the true native when that one came into bloom. They both still have a lot of unopened blooms and several stalks came from each plant! The native Lobelia is 5 ft tall! The drooping stalks are "Black Truffles" and both varieties are loaded with seeds, which I hope to propagate. The Jewelweeds are 4 feet tall and as usual, the blooms hide. For the picture I attached a 3 ft yardstick to a 4 ft 'yard stick' which is easier to see in the next photo. Thanks again for the information!

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