Mine are definitely coming back from the original plants. However, they make "offshoots" or "offsets" in the fall, and that is what actually overwinters. There is a great explanation about Lobelia cardinalis and the way it winters over in William Cullinas book on Wildflowers. It is one of my favorite books and will type an excerpt: "Lobelias are not true perennials, because the flowering stem and its associated roots die after setting seed. They are perennial in effect only because new offsets grow from the axils of the lowermost leaves and quickly put down their own abundant white roots. It is especially important, then that these new offsets be coddled a little in the fall. Think of them as seedlings that must be kept free of debris and competition so that they will have a chance to establish roots before winter. With a little attention, the plants will come back indefinitely." That is why I dead head these plants, including removing the seed pods as they are forming and even before a stalk has finished blooming. I want them to establish healthy offsets for the winter.

I have several patches of Lobelia cardinalis. It is one of the hummingbirds' top 3 favorite plants in my gardens (the other 2 being Monarda didyma and Salvia guaranitica 'Black & Blue'). It does fine in part sun, but pouts in my back garden when it is droughty. I will give it some extra watering, along with the veggies, and butterfly plants, because the hummingbirds love it so much. Also this encourages it to reseed along the edges of the garden. I agree with NHbabs, that it would prefer to have adequate moisture, over full sun. I've posted this pic before, but here is a pic of my Cardinal flower from 2011 when we had abundant rainfall that summer -

Indian Pink. Ground Cherry-Physalis Virginiana. The scientific name for leather flower is Clematis Viorna. The Indian Pink is Spigelia Marelandica,The putty root is Aplectrum hyemale. I don't have alot of seed right now to choose from in exchange.. I do have .. (all these came from my gardens not trades) 1 small trade Heal All - dark purple 1 small trade Moth Mullein- Yellow 2 trades Crown Vetch (pink/white) 2 Queen Annes Lace 2 Cardinal Flower (Lobelia Cardinalis) 1 Great Blue Lobelia May have still have some Tea berries, I know I have dormant plants. Thanks

Here's my update from the not used and not yet blooming lists. Four o'Clocks--Are blooming nicely now, but whenever I look inside, there's no nectar. None at all! I haven't seen the hummers at them, and this is probably why. They look great, but how disappointing! Blue Lobelias (Lobelia "Fan Blue")--I just saw a bird visit these this afternoon. I'm not sure if she got anything, but she dipped into a couple flowers before zipping over to the feeder. Interestingly, this summer I've been experimenting with making feeders out of Sculpey clay which closely imitate the hummingbird flowers in my garden. I made a blue Lobelia last week that is very realistic looking. I'm hoping that my feeders are habituating them to new colors and forms. It's hard to say because I'm not doing a round the clock study, but it seems like they didn't touch the lobelias until I put that feeder up. I put the feeder up a few nights ago, and when I got up the next day they were already using it without hesitation. I wonder what their reaction was when they first arrived in the early morning and saw a purple flower, instead of the usual red ones I've been making! I'm sorry to say I wasn't up early enough to see their astonishment. All of this probably deserves its own separate post, because it's pretty neat trying out all these different shapes and colors of flowers. I'm going to try making a nasturtium next. Cardinal Climber and Cypress vine--They're blooming sparsely on bushy, 20 foot vines. I just started fertilizing them with some "Bloom Booster," but they still aren't getting as many flowers as I would like. Maybe they don't like this ridiculous heat wave. Thank God it's finally cooling off. This afternoon, a hummer flew very near the vines, which made me think they might be getting used early in the morning. It seems I'm never up early enough to witness this, and then the blooms are kaput by the afternoon. I've still seen no action at my annual verbenas, my red petunias, mixed color snapdragons, Pelargonium geranium, Dianthus chinensis (although they might be sneaking into these), Impatiens, pompom or cactus zinnias, or my Oriental lilies. Bummer! I'm still waiting on the hardy Hibiscus (bunches of buds), and the Lobelia cardinalis is just beginning to bloom. They will be my last new flowers of the season. I'll let you know!