CAMPANULA

Campanula glomerata 'Emerald' is a clustered bellflower that offers an interesting colour departure -- the flowers are sky blue to lavender blue with occasional darker flecks of purple-blue along the edges of the petals. The foliage is a lush emerald green.  An unusual cut flower and will rebloom if deadheaded.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

DALMATIAN BELLFLOWER

Campanula portenschlagiana, the wall bellflower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Campanulaceae, native to the Dalmatian Mountains in Croatia. It is a vigorous, low-growing, mound-forming evergreen perennial with deep purple flowers in summer. Other common names include Dalmatian bellflower, Adria bellflower.

The plant forms a mat of foliage about 10 cm high and 50 cm or more wide, with many heart- or kidney-shaped leaves. Deep lilac or blue, funnel-shaped, 5-petalled flowers, 2 cm long, are borne in profusion, completely covering the plant from mid- to late summer. Flowers may be pollinated by beetles, flies, bees and butterflies, but are also capable of self-pollinating. The Latin specific epithet portenschlagiana commemorates the Austrian naturalist Franz von Portenschlag-Leydermayer (1772–1822).

Campanula portenschlagiana is an alpine plant requiring sharp drainage, so is suitable for an alpine garden, rock garden, or as groundcover, in sun or partial shade. Given suitable conditions, it will rapidly colonise cracks and crevices in walls and pavements. It is hardy to USDA hardiness zone 3. This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

CAMPANULA

Campanula is one of several genera in the family Campanulaceae with the common name bellflower. It takes both its common and its scientific name from its bell-shaped flowers —campanula is Latin for "little bell". The genus includes over 500 species and several subspecies, distributed across the temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest diversity in the Mediterranean region east to the Caucasus. 

Campanula persicifolia (peach-leaved bellflower, shown here) is a herbaceous perennial growing to 1 m. Its flowers are cup-shaped and can be either lilac-blue or white. Its foliage is narrow and glossy with a bright green appearance. It is common in the Alps and other mountain ranges in Europe. It grows at lower altitudes in the north, and higher up further south, passing 1,500 m in Provence. Normally it flowers in June; a dry summer may reduce or inhibit its flowering. Despite this it can flower as late as September in a cold year.

The natural habitat of this plant is broad-leaved forests, woodland margins, rocky outcrops in broad-leaved woods, meadows and banks. The stem is usually unbranched, erect and slightly angular. The basal leaves are short stalked and narrowly spatulate and usually wither before flowering time. The upper leaves are unstalked, lanceolate, almost linear with rounded teeth on the margins.

The inflorescence is a few-flowered terminal raceme or there may be a single flower. The calyx is fused with five narrow lobes, eventually spreading. The corolla is five-lobed, 30 to 50 mm long with five violet-blue (or occasionally white) fused petals. The corolla lobes are less long than they are wide. There are five stamens and a pistil formed from three fused carpels. The fruit is a strongly-veined conical capsule. In cultivation numerous varieties and cultivars have been developed in a range of colours including white, blue, pink and purple. It is a common, well-loved and rewarding garden plant.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

ROCK ISOTOME

Isotoma axillaris, commonly known as rock isotome or showy isotome, is a small herbaceous perennial in the family Campanulaceae. It grows to 50 cm high and has divided leaves. The blue to mauve star-shaped flowers appear between September and May in the species native range. It occurs in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, often on rocky outcrops. The species was first formally described by botanist John Lindley in 1826 in Edward's Botanical Register

Isotoma axillaris can be easily propagated from seed. Seed can be scattered directly in late winter, when there is no more danger of frost, or planted into pots and then transplanting in spring. Plants will require regular watering until established, and then only need watering about once a week, perhaps more in the heat.

Propagation from firm cuttings is also possible, but it is recommended that gloves be worn to avoid reactions to the sap. These warnings about the sap should not deter gardeners from planting these species as long as appropriate precautions are taken, as they give lasting flower displays in return for very little work. Also, the sap seems to be equally distasteful to potential herbivores. The plantings in the Australian National Botanic Gardens show no evidence of herbivory by either marsupials or insects.

This species can flower as early as September, right through to May and the flowers have a slight fragrance. The foliage will then die off and should be cut back to encourage fresh new growth. They are somewhat frost sensitive, but can be treated as annuals in cold climates. Although not essential, liquid fertiliser can be applied to encourage more abundant flowering.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

WAHLENBERGIA

Wahlenbergia stricta, or Australian Bluebell, Tall or Austral Bluebell, is an Australian wildflower from the Campanulaceae family. It is considered the most commonly encountered of the Wahlenbergias. It is found in all Australian states but not the Northern Territory. It is often seen growing by the side of the road, enjoying the extra runoff.

W. stricta is a perennial herb flowering mainly in spring or summer with pale blue bell-like flowers. The leaves are long and linear, 5–70 millimetres long. The five-petalled flowers are erect on long, slender stems and about 6–20 millimetres in diameter. It forms thin, carrot shaped tubers. Australian bluebells are generally easily propagated by division or root cutting. The seed is a very fine, black powder. It germinates readily in a few weeks and is best directly sown into tubes or cells as the seed and plant are very small and hard to separate and prick out.

There are a number of common cultivars, including various shades of blue from a saturated blue similar to #00f through to white. Various double forms are available. To maintain a cultivar propagation must be by vegetative means (division or cuttings). Once established W. stricta is very hardy - the pot can be dried out completely and the plant reduced to a tuber, yet it will reshoot when the rain comes. It is hardy in a range of soils from sand to gravel, clay to humus.

This post is part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.