Has anyone else tried growing this plant? I planted one 2 years ago and have had the same problem 2 years in a row. It starts out growing nice and healthy, but by mid-summer the leaves on part or all of it start to turn brown and the stems die, and I might get one stem to last till it blooms. It's planted in a partial shade location with fast drainage, but the soil is really bad...full of tree roots and hard. I tried to improve it when I planted, but perhaps not enough. I'd like to move it without killing it, but the entire plant seems to be dying anyway at this point. Should I just go ahead and move it and hope for the best?

Just a quick response, I've heard they don't take kindly to transplanting, because of the deep tap root.
But that maybe part of the problem if you said they aren't acting well, maybe it couldn't get it's deep root down far enough??
And they like moist soil maybe too dry with the tree roots???

Are they one of those types of plants that like crappy soil ???????????????

AND ALL PARTS OF THE PLANTS ARE POISONOUS AND CAN IRRITATE SKIN, SAYS TO WEAR GLOVES AND EYE GEAR.
Weezie

I have one too in an area that the soil is hard. There it likes lots of water, and as the blooms tend to get brown and die off as well, I baby them by "sprinkling" the tops.
Although directions say it does not like being moved, a friend once dug one of hers up for me and I took it and re-planted it, and it did very well. I guess it never hurts to experiment!

Well, I decided I would go ahead and try to move it. When I grabbed hold of one of the stems it just popped up out of the ground. Then I noticed this white mildew-looking stuff at the base of the plant. I tried all the stems and they all just popped right out, so I think it had rotted. I dug up what was left and the soil was really dry with hard clumps. I dug out a large area and planted a couple of blue lobelias in it's place, using bagged garden soil. Hopefully, they will do better there even though it is a dry area...I'll just have to water it more often.