Pocket BotanistPlant guide
Edging lobelia.
Lobelia erinus
Pronounced loh-BEE-lee-uh EH-rin-us
Also known as Edging lobelia, Garden Lobelia, trailing lobelia
Scan with your phone's camera to get the app
Or go to pocketbotanist.app/get on your phone
This charming little plant is a favorite for adding vibrant color to garden borders and hanging baskets. It produces a dense carpet of tiny, brilliant flowers throughout the warmer months. You will love how it spills over the edges of containers.
At a glance
- Care level
- Easy
- Plant type
- Annual
- Light
- Full sun to partial shade
- Indoor light
- Bright indirect
- Water
- Every 2 to 4 days
- Mature size
- 6 to 12 inches tall
- Growth rate
- Fast
Care
Keep the soil consistently moist and provide a bit of afternoon shade in hotter climates. Watch for wilting, which indicates the plant needs a drink immediately. Deadheading spent blooms helps encourage a second flush of flowers.
- Watering
- Keep the soil evenly moist but never waterlogged.
- Feeding
- Apply a balanced liquid fertilizer every two weeks during the growing season.
- Pruning
- Shear back the plant mid-season to promote bushier growth and more blooms.
- Repotting
- Since this is grown as an annual, you typically replace it every year.
- Soil
- Moist, well-draining, fertile soil
- Soil pH
- 6.0 to 7.0
Safety
- Pets
- This plant is toxic to cats and dogs if ingested.
How to identify it
- Small, rounded, or oval leaves
- Masses of tiny, five-petaled flowers
- Deep blue, purple, or white blooms
- Low-growing, compact, trailing habit
Problems to watch for
Check your edging lobelia from a photo
Pocket Botanist looks at a photo of your plant and tells you what's wrong and what to try first.
Scan with your phone's camera to get the app
Or go to pocketbotanist.app/get on your phone
Science
- Family
- Campanulaceae
- Genus
- Lobelia
- Order
- Asterales
- Class
- Magnoliopsida
Taxonomy resolved against GBIF.
Also in
Keep your edging lobelia growing
This page is a general guide. Save your plant in Pocket Botanist and you get care reminders timed for this plant, plus a care history that shows what worked.
Scan with your phone's camera to get the app
Or go to pocketbotanist.app/get on your phone
This guide was generated with AI on and checked against GBIF taxonomy. It is general information, not horticultural or veterinary advice. Read about how we build these guides.