Lovely lobelia, bacopa like their moisture

When I'm shopping for bedding plants in spring, I find it hard to resist buying lobelia. Blooming with a mass of small blue, lilac, rose or white flowers, it always looks so dainty and appealing.

But I don't have a good track record with this old-fashioned favorite. By midsummer, the lobelia plants I brought home in the spring are often already dead.

Trouble is, lobelia doesn't like to dry out. If it does, the plant usually won't recover. My hat is off to those gardeners who manage to keep lobelia plants well watered and thriving throughout the summer.

Although lobelia will thrive in full sun if it gets enough water, a spot in partial shade helps keep the soil from drying out so fast. If lobelia plants get leggy by midsummer, a light shearing will improve their appearance.

Sometimes lobelia temporarily stops blooming in the heat of summer. Not to worry, as long as the plant looks healthy. Flowering will resume as soon as temperatures cool down.

Bacopa, also known as Sutera, is another appealing annual that has masses of dainty lilac, pink or white flowers. Trailing varieties are beautiful in a hanging basket, but don't let the soil dry out. Like lobelia, bacopa may not recover.

When you bring home any type of plant in a hanging basket, you can make life easier for the plants and yourself by transplanting the whole root ball into a larger basket. That allows room for the roots to grow as well as room for more soil, which

will help hold moisture longer.

If a hanging basket gets too dry, watering in place won't do much good. Potting soil pulls away from the sides of the pot as it dries, allowing any water you apply to run right through the pot before it can be absorbed into the soil.

Instead, take the basket off its hook and set the pot in a tub. Water from the top as usual, but also allow the pot to stand in water until the soil is thoroughly moist. Although lobelia and bacopa may not recover, many other kinds of plants will.

For gardeners like me who tend to be tardy at watering pots, award-winning Diamond Frost euphorbia has proved itself almost indestructible. Tolerant of heat and drought, this resilient plant produces a cloud of airy white blossoms all summer long.

Whether grown by itself in a pot or used as a filler with other plants in a container combo, Diamond Frost always looks great. It grows equally well in full sun or

partial shade. I even brought some Diamond Frost plants indoors last fall

and enjoyed them as blooming houseplants all winter.

• Jan Riggenbach's column appears every Sunday. Write to her in care of the Daily Herald, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights IL 60006. Enclose a self-addressed, stamped enveloped for a reply.