© 2025 University of Missouri - KBIA
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Discover Nature: Cardinal Flower Blooms

Bright red clusters of cardinal flowers bloom atop dozens of green stalks between two branches of a stream.
In the waning weeks of summer, watch for cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) blooming along streambanks and in rain gardens. Bright red clusters of nearly bell-shaped flowers feed pollinators, and provide vibrant color late into the growing season.

This week along Missouri waterways, watch for one of our state’s bright-red wildflowers in full bloom.

 

Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) grows in wet environments – especially along Ozark rivers and streams, in openings of bottomland forests, ditches, sloughs, swamps, and lakes. It also grows well in cultivated rain gardens with rich, wet soils, and tolerates medium shade. 

 

From July to October, bright red flowers in dense racemes emerge from up-to-five-foot-tall stalks. Numerous alternate, dark-green, lance-shaped and finely-toothed leaves grow to six-inches long. 

 

These showy native wildflowers in the bellflower family attract pollinators such as butterflies and hummingbirds. 

 

In the waning weeks of summer, watch for the bright red flowers of cardinal flowers, feeding our late-season pollinators, and providing a splash of vibrant color along your local stream or rain garden.  

 

Learn more about cardinal flowers and other Missouri-native wildflowers at MissouriConservation.org.

 

Discover Nature is sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Kyle Felling’s work at KBIA spans more than three decades. In 2025, he became KBIA and KMUC's Station Manager. He began volunteering at the station while he was a Political Science student at the University of Missouri. After being hired as a full-time announcer, he served as the long-time local host of NPR’s All Things Considered on KBIA, and was Music Director for a number of years. Starting in 2010, Kyle became KBIA’s Program Director, overseeing on-air programming and operations while training and supervising the station’s on-air staff. During that period, KBIA regularly ranked among the top stations in the Columbia market, and among the most listened to stations in the country. He was instrumental in the launch of KBIA’s sister station, Classical 90.5 FM in 2015, and helped to build it into a strong community resource for classical music. Kyle has also worked as an instructor in the MU School of Journalism, training the next generation of journalists and strategic communicators. In his spare time, he enjoys playing competitive pinball, reading comic books and Joan Didion, watching the Kansas City Chiefs, and listening to Bruce Springsteen and the legendary E Street Band.
Related Content