Campanula

From Wendy Perry of Bosvigo Plants in S. England comes this unfortunately scarce and choice Campanula. Gently and very controllably spreading to make an impressive clump with spires of pure white flowers. Pairs impeccably with Hosta 'Patriot'.

This little beaut seems so architectural that I always imagine it to be a cathedral for the fairy folk. Rigid, vertical spires (non denominational - it's not Catholic) are robed in dark green leaves and blessed with soft lavender flowers of an open-faced innocence. Uncommon of course.

Coming to us from ace rock gardener Kathy Allen of Oregon, and native to the Caucasus this forms a nice spreading clump of evergreen lightly ruffled heart-shaped leaves before putting out flowering stems of up to 2 feet covered in star-shaped bells of white. Happy in a well drained rock or crevice garden setting.

Here is one of the results of the North Caucasus Expedition in September of 2011. This was a joint venture involving the botanical gardens of St. Petersburg, Stavropol, Hamburg, Shanghai and Gothenburg. We were fortunate to obtain seed from one of the participating botanic gardens and quickly raised this to flowering size. This Campanula was collected in Russia at Karachayevo-Cherkessiya, Terbeda, Gonachkir Valley at 1800 meters so next time you are there, keep an eye peeled for it. But in case you are not planning to travel there soon, here is a chance to get a wild collection of a workhorse garden species.

We've noticed some of these have a faint lavender shading to the white flowers especially in bud and just open. Typical C. lactiflora can reach 3'-5' with big showy heads of flowers in late summer. The fact that these are flowering in small band pots at 10" tall might speak to a more compact form as they do come from some elevation. Time in the garden will tell the final tale but one thing is for sure - these should be winter hardy enough for anyone we're ever going to ship to!

Gawen Bellflower. A fine choice for cottage gardens or your basic flower bed, this very hardy perennal will provide a refreshing and cooling display of large cup and saucer double white flowers in early to mid summer. This is a mat-forming plant so in a few years you will have an enviable stand of flower stems you can cut for dinner parties.

A little gem this one is. Fully double white flowers like elfin roses held on short stems in spring and early summer on this little creeper. Perfectly suited to the rockery, rock garden or special spot, this will charm even the most cynical and caustic of gardeners except those who hate double flowers but even they awake smiling on occasion in the middle of the night after dreaming of this blooming in their garden.

Exceptional double Campanula we received via Bob Brown's Cotswold Garden Flowers in England. This has big medium blue flowers like 2 shallow cups nested together. These are on strong stems which don't blow over and we can testify to that living on the windswept Port Townsend Steppe. This is a good performer and one that has the panache to mingle in the trendy garden as well as carrying a classic look that works in the cottage or Victorian garden. Or in our case it shines in our looking-for-a-genre sunny border.