Cardinalflower

Lobelia cardinalis

native · Hill Country

Cardinalflower is a wildflower native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 2–6 ft tall and 2 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and medium water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms red in summer. Good for birds, butterflies and hummingbirds.

Wet ground only. Usually found in wetlands and creek bottoms. It wants reliably moist ground and struggles in a dry upland bed.

Will it grow in your yard?

Enter your ZIP. The finder checks Cardinalflower against your microclimate, then ranks it against your sun, your watering and deer pressure.

The facts

6 sources

Type: Wildflower
Sun: Full sun to part shade (3–6 hrs of direct sun)
Water: Medium
Height: 2–6 ft
Spread: 2 ft
Bloom: Summer · red
Foliage: Deciduous or dies back in winter
Soil: Takes caliche and clay · recorded on clay, limestone, loam, moist, rich, sand
Deer: Moderate — deer may browse it, especially new growth
Wildlife: Supports birds, butterflies and hummingbirds

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsLlano UpliftEdwards Plateau WoodlandNorthern Blackland PrairieFloodplains and Low Terraces

335 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.

also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.