Lobelia erinus (edging lobelia, garden lobelia or trailing lobelia) is a species of flowering plant in the bellflower family Campanulaceae, native to southern Africa. It’s got thin basal leaves and deep blue, purple, or white flowers.
Lobelia erinus is commonly grown in window boxes or around the edges of gardens as an edging plant. The plant is native to South Africa and was first cultivated in the 1600s. It’s become a popular choice for gardens around the world, resulting in hundreds of hybrids. There are also two main varieties — a long, trailing plant and a shorter, compact variety. The edging lobelia is the shorter of the two main types of this species. It rarely grows more than six inches high while the trailing habit lobelia can produce leggy growth up to 12 inches. Lobelia has thin leaves and delicate stems but may spread a couple of feet, making it great for edging borders. The plant blooms in the summer, producing hundreds of little white, pink, purple, violet or blue flowers with white eyes.
