Lobelia tupa (Devil's Tobacco)

Tabaca del Diablo: Clump-forming herbaceous perennial from the Peruvian Andes, well-suited to a sheltered and sunny site, with the splendid common name: ‘Devil’s Tobacco’. It does rather resemble something exotically smokeable: faintly outlandish and tactile enough to be architectural (Archi-textural?) and a definite point of interest not usually encountered in your average herbaceous border.

It is an exotic from warmer climes but even in a cold garden it will always come back, having lurked cosy beneath the soil, with foliage anew the following spring. Said foliage is rather large and lance-shaped, blue-green with a faint fuzz on them, and pale edges that give them a sort of ‘hand-drawn’ look. They have a crisp fold down the middle and a wavy edge that fills even a modestly-sized specimen with shadow and texture. Not modest at all are the red flowers which rocket out of it throughout summer and autumn. These tubular blooms are all shades from scarlet through crimson with beaky petals born on spikes up to six feet high. Devilishly good for coastal landscaping or an exotic garden where you can partner it with other greedy feeders that like their roots in something chewy. It needs a deep rich soil with plenty of moisture, basically. Believe us when we say it's worth putting the effort in, as it can be disappointing on poor thin soil and won’t ever live up to its magnificent name.

Propagated by us from seed.