Landscape Worthy Native Flowers
Cardinal flower is a great choice for gardeners wanting to attract hummingbirds into their gardens. It’s clump-forming habit with brilliant scarlet red flower spikes set against green and purple-bronze colored foliage provide a spectacular garden display in the heat of summer. Flowers appear on 2’ long spikes that sit atop 3-4’ tall plants. Cardinal flower flourishes in moist soils in filtered shade to sun. Stream banks, water’s edge, woodland edges, and garden soils less prone to summer drought are excellent planting sites.
USDA Zone | 4-9 |
Plant Spacing | 6-16" |
Sun Exposure | Full Sun / Part Shade |
Soil Moisture | Wet / Wet-Mesic |
Height | 4 feet |
Bloom Time | July – Sept |
The flowering spikes open from the bottom to the top and bloom for several weeks. By the time the flowers at the top of the stalk are open, the older flowers at the base have already set seed. Cardinal Flowers are not true perennials, the flowering stem and its roots die after setting seed, however new offsets grow from the axils of the lowermost leaves and put down their own roots.