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Abgardeneer
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - 10:37 pm EST : |   
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Hi, Bellflower, and any others who may be interested...
(Continuing from the other thread) I'd be delighted to talk more about campanulas!
I've grown many of the old standards, and few slightly less common ones, here for some years:
C. carpatica - 'Blue Clips' and 'White Clips' and their seed progeny; the old standard; full sun needed to prevent floppiness in my yard.
C. cochlearifolia, poscharskyana
C. garganica 'Dickson's Gold'
C. glomerata
C. persicifolia - purple, white, and a double white, 'Moerheimii'; interestingly, I find these more rampant than C. takesimana, but a good space-filler!
C. takesimana - rose and white
C. rotundifolia - native strain and 'Olympica'
C. sarmatica - a little coarser foliage than many.
Some more recent additions:
C. finitima syn. betulifolia - a nice light pink
C. x tymsonii
C. herzogovina nana - I have it in a trough; terrific bloomer!
C. 'Royal Wave' - rather flatter flowers than usual, with the suggestion of a white center.
C. collina - lovely dark flowers and stems (though variable from plant to plant)!
C. barbata - seeing some variety in the beardedness of these, too.
(Hmm, using italics in this forum is a bit hit and miss for me... must figure that out...)
Some seed-grown ones (2005) which have wintered; many should be blooming shortly:
C. incurva
C. kolenatiana
C. thyrsoides - blooming now; very interesting! One of the few yellow (creamy pale yellow) campanulas. Seems like a rather brief bloom; supposed to be biennial but I hope not!
C. americana - another that is supposed to be biennial.
Some campanula relatives that seem to do well here:
Symphyandra hofmannii - very showy and underused; blooms all season, very heavy seeder (but I don't mind); short-lived perennial; best of the symphyandras that I have experienced.
S. zanzegura, wanneri - the former is interesting; the other is still to young to fully judge, though it does have attractive dark flowers and nice shiny foliage.
Hanabusaya asiatica - started a couple of years ago from seed and about to bloom! Foliage and habit are quite different than the "usual campanula".
Others added this year:
C. kirpicznikovii - I haven't even researched this yet, but supposedly another yellow one!
C. aff. rotundifolia - much looser habit than those I have, but that may be from growing conditions (i.e. shadier).
C. poscharskyana 'Blue Waterfall', 'E.H. Frost'
C. x 'Peter Nix'
C. cochleariifolia 'Elizabeth Oliver' - one of those cute doubles.
So far, I have not had success at wintering C. latifolia or C. lactiflora... why, I don't know. Did grow C. pyramidalis in the past; it acted as a biennial and had a little reseeding, but I no longer have it.
So, I think that's about what I have... What are the folks out there, particularly in colder zones, growing? Winter hardy, not winter hardy? Favorites? Other interesting campanula relatives?
Abgardeneer
P.S. Next task... to try to figure out how to post pictures!
Abgardeneer
- Alberta,
Zone "3"
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Bluesibe
| | Posted on Thursday, July 20, 2006 - 08:32 am EST : |
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I would love to see your pictures. I don't know names that well and I'm always looking for some to add to my garden.
Carol
Bluesibe |
Mike_in_chicago
My Garden
| | Posted on Thursday, July 20, 2006 - 07:26 pm EST : |
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I've died and gone to bellflower heaven; another campanula freak...I mean lover. And zounds, in zone 3 no less!
I'm curious, have you overwintered 'Elizabeth Oliver'? I just got her, and there are some questions out there. Thought I'd put her in the rock garden. Please do share pictures!
Besides the Symphandra, I have some of what you do, plus a few other:
fenestra
tridens
tridentata
caespitosa
Birch's hybrid
rotundifolia ssp. arctica
hakkiarika
tridens
I've posted some pix here:
http://www.gardenbuddies.com/forum/messages/12916/1208844.html}
Mike_in_chicago
- Chicago, IL,
Zone "5b"
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Bellflower
| | Posted on Thursday, July 20, 2006 - 08:34 pm EST : |
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Great idea to start this thread, Abgardeneer. After reading your lists, I don't consider myself that much of a collector after all. I don't even recognize some of those names you mentioned and can't even find some in what references I have. Do you know a good on-line source for Campanulas? I have found perennials.com to have a pretty comprehensive list. And I recently shelled out for the Holes Dictionary of Hardy Perennials which has quite a few including some I didn't recognize on your list.
I pretty well have the same common ones altho' I haven't had much luck wintering C. poscharskyana and 'Dickson's Gold' but I keep trying. I just got 'Blue Waterfall' this year as well. And I don't have C. sarmatica.
Others that I've had for several years are:
C. medium - biennial but I always leave some go to seed.
C. nitrida - ?alpine, compact leathery leaves
C. punctata rubriflora - spreading but controllable
C. 'Kent Belle' and 'Sarastro' - both need propping but such a dark purple
C. trachelium 'Bernice' - a double purple, in it's third year, was better last year but might be more choked for room now
C. pyramidalis - I had both blue and white last year, so far just blue this year
New in the last year ('05 & '06):
C. aucheri - '06 alpine, planted in rockery
C. incurva - wintered first year and now just blooming, I love how it spreads it's branches out and up with it's cups facing up
C. coch. 'Advance Blue' - '06 likes semi-shade which I have lots of
C. punctata 'Hot Lips' - '06 still don't seem to have recovered from planting
C. persicifolia 'Chettle Charm' - '06
C. latifolia 'Brantwood' - started from seed last year and most wintered over but only one has bloomed so far.
As far as the 'relatives' go, I didn't know about them but just discovered them when I was perusing my Holes book. I'll have to add them to my list as I love the idea of them blooming all summer. Since I go for any type of 'bell' flower, I also have a few coral bells and just added another of those.
I also have some pictures but will need to figure out how to post them too.
Bellflower
- Alberta,
Zone "3A"
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Abgardeneer
| | Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 01:05 am EST : |
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Just a brief note now... probably more to follow in another posting...
Mike: Well, rather than specifically campanulas, I'm really just more of a plant freak....er... plant lover! (As I sometimes explain to the sorts of people whom I think might possibly understand, I'm very interested in plants, not that crazy about gardening! LOL!) Anyway, to answer your question, I've only acquired C. cochleariifolia 'Elizabeth Oliver' this year, so I have not wintered it yet. However, the nursery from which I bought it grows most, if not all, the plants it sells, so I don't have any particular reservations about it. And C. cochleariifolia is generally hardy here...
Nice photos! I'll have to look up the plants you mention... more for my ever-growing "want" list!
Bellflower:
Yes, you are clearly a collector, as well!
I haven't perused the book you mentioned yet, but the Holes books are generally good for the slightly more advanced gardener. (We have most of them... we kind of make it a point to buy these locally-published books.) However, after a certain point, it's really advisable to acquire a genus-specific book. However, for campanulas, I only have the Lewis and Lynch book, Campanulas: A Gardener's Guide. It's a very good basic book and enjoyable reading, with a fairly generous smattering of pictures and line drawings. I would also like to get a more thorough treatment of the genus, though. (Having said that, I openly admit that much of the scientific detail is wasted on me, but to get a more comprehensive account of species, it often just comes with the territory!)
Unfortunately, I don't know of a really good campanula website. (As I googled around, I was surprised that I did not find a few Campanula Societies. There must be some!)
So, anyone out there know of some good campanula websites, and a book that provides a more thorough treatment of the genus? With lots of color pictures? (LOL!!)
Thanks,
abgardeneer
Abgardeneer
- Alberta,
Zone "3"
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