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Dixie
garden enthusiast
Waikato-New Zealand
?4 Sep '07 6:40 am
Whatever it is ,it is certainly a really attractive shrub-it would probably be an Australian native,wouldn't it?
Your place looks a lovely natural setting for a garden.
Dixie.
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TasV
contributor
Tasmania, Australia
6 Sep '07 12:57 am
No... this one's not an Aussie native unfortunately. Grows easily by cutting or layering too.
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moosey
head gardener
6 Sep '07 6:02 pm
I don't know it, but I like it! The shrub as well as the flowers! Someone will know. Stupid idea - it's not an Olearia is it? Probably not, but I know there are some in Australia. Hmm...
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Mark
Home gardener & plant fetishist
Berkeley, California, USA
Looks like a lobelia to me.7 Sep '07 3:10 pm
Looks like the one we call Mexican Lobelia (L. laxiflora). It's a bit invasive. There are a couple other 'new' lobelias I grow which I'm more fond of. Lobelia tupa is wonderful, almost formal looking I think. Its catching on. Then I have one that I like even though its a bit more raggedy looking, I like the bloom color better. That's Lobelia aguana. I don't know if I have a picture of my Mexican Lobelia but I'll post the others so you can compare the flower shape. (Cuphea flowers look somewhat similar but I can't think of one with folliage just like yours.)
aaLlaxiflora.JPG
I believe this is your plant, but I don't have a close up.
214.24 KB / Viewed 83 Time(s)
aaLtupa#4.JPG
This is Lobelia tupa whose flower stalk is so symmetrical and the folliage is not showy but it is a nice foil for the pure red flower.
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aaLaguana2.JPG
This is the rarest one I know of. Every time the top seems to bloom out, it shoots up another foot with another flock of blooms.
383.43 KB / Viewed 75 Time(s)
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TasV
contributor
Tasmania, Australia
8 Sep '07 11:31 pm
Excellent !!! I believe it to be Lobelia laxiflora too. When you say invasive, what do you mean? Invasive seeds? Invasive runenrs etc? A quick google also reveals that it is quite toxic 
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Mark
Home gardener & plant fetishist
Berkeley, California, USA
Oops, I missed your reply somehow.24 Sep '07 3:25 pm
By invasive I mean that when I moved it last fall it not only is doing very well in its new spot, but continues to be a force to recon with where I moved it from. Now to be honest I've been week willed about removing it there since I do like the plant but when I've tried to pull it out by the root it always seems to reimurge just fine. I suspect it does spread by runners and that the smallest bit of root is probably viable. If I were more persistant I suspect I could wear it out and finally defeat it.
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shokami
contributor
oregon, usa
possibly6 Oct '07 5:46 pm
hi! im from oregon. it almost looks like what i have. mine is a type of lobelia with flowers and leaves that look just like that. (but my flowers are red and yellow)and they can get quite large over time. maybe, but not sure.
 kim
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Mark
Home gardener & plant fetishist
Berkeley, California, USA
Sounds like the one.7 Oct '07 1:16 am
The flower on your avatar is stunning. Some kind of hybiscus or malo? Just beautiful.
Welcome aboard by the way, Kim. I haven't been as regular a contributer lately as I would like now that school is back in session. Did I missed your arrival? I think you'll like this international little group. Everyone here is a serious garden but have drastically different challenges. Jack in Africa has a neighbor with hippo issues if you can imagine.
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Jack Holloway
Passionate Gardener
SEQUOIA FARM Haenertsburg South Africa
Hippo issues9 Oct '07 2:44 am
Mark you exaggerate! The 'neighbour' lives about 50 km (30 miles) away...
I've somehow never opened this post. I recognised the flower as something from my parents' Johannesburg garden. It arrived (literally) on a rock I acquired from another garden, survived and grew. 10 years on it is impressive, tends to be invasive, but is easy to control. (It HAS moved off the rock  )I.e. I don't think it roots from remnents, because then it would be much less contained. I remember finding out what it was and being surprised, so the lobelia tag fits. In fact I've been wanting (a) to re-identify it for some time and (b) get some for my own garden. So thanks!  By the way - they have no frost there, so if anything it will spread more slowly for you. A part has grown over two meters into a Japanese sacred bamboo (Nandina domestica) where it looks lovely and has been left 'to do its thing.'
By the way, your setting looks lovely - more pics please! And welcome to both you and -oops- I'm editing so I can't check: the Oregon USA gardener with the lovely dark red flower (hollyhock?) avatar.
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