Lobelia siphilitica prophouse-summer-2026 whose caterpillars fold themselves into

whose caterpillars fold themselves into leaf tents and wear a pair of false eyespots convincing enough to read as a small snake

easy to miss

so that the whole drooping cluster reads unmistakably as the tail of a boiled shrimp

anise-scented leaves and pale creamy-yellow

the custard apple family whose tropical members include the cherimoya

Lobelia siphilitica prophouse-summer-2026 whose caterpillars fold themselves intoWhere the cardinal flower runs to scarlet, Lobelia siphilitica answers in blue. The great blue lobelia sends up leafy spikes packed with inch long, two lipped flowers of clear, saturated blue in late summer and early fall, one of the truest blues in the native flora and a gift to the garden at a tired time of year. The species grows wild across eastern and central North America in moist meadows, low woods, and along streamsides. Like the cardinal