What do I look for on a lobelia?

I'd like to keep some seeds from a Blue Moon Lobelia I bought this summer in Seattle. I really don't know what I'm looking for. Can you give me a hint?

Shirley

Look at the stem tips where there were flowers, and you should see the base part of the flower, all dried up like a little brown crinkle. If you break it open, you'll find teeny tiny seeds, almost like dust in their size. I haven't saved lobelia seeds before, but I would harvest the dried flower bits and let them dry for a week or two on a plate, then break them open and shake out the seeds or try to find a very find seive to separate seeds from chaff. Maybe somebody will have a good suggestion for dechaffing them...

Edited to add that I'm describing what I see on my lobelia, which are 'Crystal Palace'. The seeds for that cultivar are inexpensive & easy to find, so I haven't saved seeds in the past. From your description of your plant earlier this summer, it's an even more intense blue that sounds just lovely, so please keep me in mind if you succeed and end up wtih seeds to trade!

This message was edited Aug 15, 2005 11:45 PM

I have been cutting the flowers off and letting them dry. I'll look and see if I can see the seeds. It is a beautiful bright blue flower and I wasn't sure I could buy the seeds. I will keep you in mind. Wish me luck and thank you!

Let the flowers dry on the plant. They need to stay attached in order to form seeds, I think. The petals will fall off, and the base part of the flower will remain.

If you have no luck, LMK, and I'll try to get a picture...

I can't for the life of me see the seeds. I broke them apart on white paper and under a light. I even got out the magnifying glass! I'll try and find some seeds on line. The lobelia didn't do that well here in Tx. I couldn't leave it out in the sun because it was so hot. I've just lost pieces of it all summer long, not much of a plant left. Come to think of it, it was too hot for me here too!

Sorry to hear you were unsuccessful... Perhaps you have a sterile hybrid? Or maybe the heat was high enough to inhibit seed formation. I think I saw a picture you posted on another thread, and it really was a gorgeous color, so LMK if you find a source for the seeds. I use Lobelia to tuck between other plants in containers. It does well in the spring when it's cooler, and often it continues to thrive as the other plants grow and provide it with some shade. I love seeing that bright blue peeking out!