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OUT OF STOCK
Cardinal Flower Seeds
Lobelia cardinalis
Regular price
$4.95
Sale price
$4.95
Regular price
$0.00
per Packet
Sale |
Zones
3-8
ZONES
3-8
|
Good to grow! Zone
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Description
"Cardinal-flowers kindle their spiral flames, and illuminate the dark nooks among the shrubbery."
...Nathanial Hawthorne, "The Old Manse"
Almost always called "America's most vivid wildflower", this very famous plant of great beauty has been seen by few, since it blooms during summer, not spring, like most of its woodland companions. The flowers are orchid-like, up and down the tall 3 to 4-ft. stems. They often put on a dazzling show in shady wet woods, and many a hiker has been startled by coming onto a colony in brilliant bloom in the mid or late-summer woods. Because of its beauty, Cardinal Flower is often picked in the wild, and has become rare in some places. It also seems cursed by being a streamside plant which has shallow roots. Often even large, older plants are swept away during spring flooding, since their roots are poor anchors in a strong stream of water. Once established, a colony of this wildflower will be the pride and joy of any serious wildflower gardener.
Our seeds, often very hard to find, are hand-gathered from the wild by a seed specialist in the Finger Lakes region of New York state, so you know they'll be the true wild species. (There are several hybrids of this wildflower; one with maroon-red leaves, which is not as cold-hardy as the native.)
No. Seeds per packet: Over 500
Planting & Care
Shipping
As soon as your order is placed you will receive a confirmation email. You will receive a second email the day your order ships telling you how it has been sent. Depending upon your order date, we may hold your shipment to combine it with other products on your order, if applicable. See our shipping information page for approximate ship dates and more detailed information. If you have any questions, please call Customer Service toll-free at (802) 227-7200 or contact us by email or chat.
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Key Features
Light Requirements
Bloom Time
Life Cycle
Advantages
Additional information
Seed Coverage
Seeds Per Pound
Mature Height
Soil Type
Soil Moisture
Plant Classification
Native To
Life Cycle
Growing Zones
Ideal Region
Overall rating: 4.285714 / 5 from 7 reviews.
AI Generated Review Summary
Summary topics
Review topics: ["seeds","flowers","stratification","germination","directions"].
Review highlights
Reviews
These were easy to grow from seeds and look beautiful.
"The Cardinal flowers were easy to grow from seeds and look beautiful. The hummingbirds love them!"
No luck, tried twice
"I've tried these twice, in two different locations where they should have done well. Nothing came up either time. This was with direct seeding. Giving up on the seeds."
Beautiful flowers I would buy again
"These were great and easy to seed. Note that they are designed to begin flowering in the 2nd year. I wound up with over 60 of these beauties in various sizes. They were planted in a partial sunny area with average moisture and regular watering. Please note that they will not reseed so you need to make sure and do this so they stay around. Once the seeds drop in the fall you can rake the soil around. I put them in an isolated area in the back of the garden so they would not be run over by more aggressive species. The hummingbirds love them. I used no fertilizer but added some leaf compost to the top of the soil. Make sure that you water them enough. With a little TLC these are worth it"
Cold Statification needs to be included in directions
"My Cardinal Seed planting instructions do not include anything about a required two month cold stratification. I stumbled across it by accident reading another review in here. My planting directions are very generic that covers a wide variety of wild flowers, no cold stratification is mentioned. Important directions such as this need to be included with the seeds. If I had known this, I would have started the seeds immediately upon arrival."
They start slow, but come on well
"The seeds are very very tiny, so you can't bury them at all and the soil needs to stay wet and warm to get germination. And when they first sprout, the plants are also very tiny and are easily drowned and covered with soil on watering. Spritzing is best. But once they have some size on them, they really cook along, growing rapidly. Mine haven't bloomed yet, but are about 8-10 inches tall about 2 months after planting the seeds. I can't wait to see the beautiful scarlet blooms, and the hummingbirds I think will love them!"
Great service, excellent seeds
"The seeds I bought have really turned into beautiful flowers and I plan to order many more times. This company is excellent."
Good Germinators that require extra time
"I had wonderful results germinating American Meadows cardinal flower seeds in peat pellets 2011 and 2012. Seedlings formed rosettes and grew nicely in pots that I nursed through the summer prior to transplanting before fall frost. Additionally, multiple rosettes planted in single pots separated easily for transplanting into the ground as individual plants. Since they are perennial, cardinal flower does not bloom the first year, and in 2012, I was so anxious to see what blooms looked like that instead of waiting, I ordered a potted cardinal flower plant from American Meadows. (Unfortunately, the potted plant did not grow and eventually died, but American Meadows honored its warranty and sent a replacement in 2013 that is doing very well with new growth!) The downside was that I did not get to see the potted plant bloom in 2012. However, I did see the cardinal flowers I started from seed in 2011 bloom during the summer of 2012. They were absolutely spectacular, even catching my husband's attention! I had started more from seed summer 2012 ahead of seeing the first blooms, and I was so glad I had. We like these flowers so much that I ordered more seeds to start in peat pellets 2013. I had forgotten that they take longer to germinate and I too hurriedly contacted American Meadows to report a potential problem. However, with a little extra time (weeks) in peat pellets, multiple seedlings sprouted. Germination was magnificent! I have MANY new little plants in peat pellets now waiting for me to transplant them into individual pots that I will nurse through summer and transplant into the ground before frost in hope of enjoying mass plantings of red cardinal flower blooms summer 2014. Cardinal flower takes a little longer to germinate than many other wildflower seeds, and it does not bloom the first year. But, it is WELL worth the wait. I highly recommend these seeds for people who don't mind waiting a year after sowing the seed to witness the strikingly red bloom! Gorgeous!"