Gardening with Wilson

When I was at HortPark in earlier last month, I have noticed they have used a relatively new medicinal herb as a ground-cover plant. I was kind of surprised to see it for the first time being planted this way. It was not too long ago that I saw pots of this plant on sale in local nurseries!

For those of us who have seen this plant on sale in pots and noticed its growth habit, it is not too difficult to come up with an idea to use this plant as a candidate for ground-covers. For apartment gardeners with no outdoor space to cover up, they can still find a reason to grow this plant at home – it can be grown inside a hanging basket or planter-box that is located on a sunny balcony.

This medicinal herb adopts a prostrating habit, branches quite avidly and forms dense colonies quite readily. It is a relatively fast-grower with thin, wiry stems and via the numerous nodes, the plant takes root whenever they touch moist ground. It is a candidate to consider for those who want a ground-cover plant with leaves that are fine and dainty. What’s more, the plant actually flowers and does it profusely. In a well-tended example as seen in HortPark, an entire area colonised by this plant can be covered quite densely with the lilac-coloured flowers. Although they are small, with the huge number of flowers in bloom, such a spectacle cannot be missed.

Unforunately, this plant is one of those that does not have a common English name. The plant’s botanical name is Lobelia chinensis and is one of those Lobelia species that thrives under our local hot and humid climate. It has an interesting Chinese name known as “ban bian lian” (半边莲), which literally translates into “half-sided lily”. It is a name that is probably derived from the appearance of its flowers. Unlike most other flowers which have petals that are symmetrically arranged around the flower, the petals of this plant are all skewed to one side.

Medicinally, as mentioned in the PROSEA database of medicinal plants, the aerial parts of Lobelia chinensis are used internally as a diuretic and externally on skin infections, like boils, and on swellings. The root has depurative, antirheumatic and antisyphilitic properties.

In terms of growing conditions, Lobelia chinensis needs to be grown in an location where it can receive at least some filtered sunshine. It should not be grown in too dark a location as plants will get straggly and very soon, empty patches will appear. From the look of the plant, it is easy to tell that it should never be allowed to dry out, so do try to water this plant often, bearing in mind to keep the soil moist at all times. It needs to have a hair-cut to keep its growth and spread in check.