Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) is such a deep red color that it looks like velvet.
From a distance you’ll see this perennial along streambanks, in wet places and swamps. The plant is as much as four feet tall.
It blooms in late summer and early fall, just in time for migrating hummingbirds to sip its nectar on their way south.
(photo by Kate St. John)
Good afternoon Kate: Spotted quite a few of these yesterday on a float down the Clarion River. Vibrant and fabulous!
This is the first year in many that I didn’t have some volunteer in my garden. Drat! I will go to Beechwood Farms native plant sale to get some. The hummingbirds do love them.