Last weekend I flew the white flag on behalf of my coneflowers. Some of the bunny-ravaged plants were showing new growth from the base of the plant, but even that was getting chewed on. It drives me nuts to have gaps in my flowerbeds, so I purchased a few replacement plants and put my coneflowers out of their misery.
I decided to tuck a few more lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower) plants into the empty spots. I have a clump of cardinal flowers that the bunnies have not touched, and the plants grow about the same height as the coneflowers they are replacing (2-4 feet).
The only catch with cardinal flowers is that they love moist soil, so you have to make sure to give them a drink during dry periods. Despite our drought last summer my clump thrived because I made sure to water it regularly. My new plants shouldn’t have any problems staying moist. I’ve dumped 9 inches from our rain gauge in the last 6 days and 16 total inches since the first week of May.
Later in the summer my plants will send up beautiful, bright-red flowers that attract hummingbirds:
Cardinal flowers can tolerate full sun in cooler climates, but the plants appreciate afternoon shade. Because they love moist soil and tolerate wet soil they make excellent rain garden plants.