Lobelia siphilitica (Great Blue Lobelia)

grows 2-3 ft. tall

sun to part shade

medium (mesic) to wet soil

royal blue or purple flowers from July-Sept.

benefits bumble bees, solitary bees, and beetles

beloved by digger bees, yellow-faced bees, green sweat bees, small carpenter bees, weevil

larval host plant

natural habitat: floodplain forests, mesic cove and slope forests, fens, seeps, stream banks and bars, moist clearings, wet meadows, and low roadsides

good companion plants: swamp milkweed, white turtlehead, mountain mints, cardinal flower

disclaimer: does not actually cure syphilis (although people used to believe it did; hence, the Latin name)