The end of June is time for the Campanulaceae family to put on its bright display. The purple flowers draw the eye. (Of course there are also alba forms too. ) For me, Edraianthus is a favorite among the family. Many years ago I ordered seed from the NARGS Seedex for E. graminifolius as well as E. tenuifolia. It takes better glasses than mine to tell them apart. Both are good doers and self sowers. They do well in gritty soil and rock. The gem of the genus is of course, E. pumilio. But bloom melted in our severe rain storms. There’s always next year.
A bit lighter in color is the creeping Campanula portenschlagiana. A native of the Dalmatian Mountains in Croatia, it loves to hug the rocks. And does very well in full sun. While it is easy to grow from seed, there are several named forms, like ‘Blue Magic’, worth finding.
A long blooming favorite of mine is not a member of that huge tribe. Rather it belongs to the Plantaginaceae: Linaria alpina. Imagine my delight when encountering it in the high mountain Dolomites. The orange gives it such a cheery face under its purple hood.
And once, when it was a new plant to me, my friend Anne and I stepped over a white form. We thought, oh well, we’ll find it again on the way down. But even after a thorough search, it was never found. Now since I was a “newbie”, I might discount myself as to what we saw. But my friend Anne knew it well, after many years of experience. On a more positive note, the typical purple/orange form is very easy from seed. For me it remains perennial and enjoys full sun.
We are soon in for a treat. Our July 5th speaker is the Curator of the Rock Garden and Native Plant Garden at NYBG: Michael Hagen. And who better to give us ideas of what natives to use in our rock gardens? His background comes in part from being the former Institutional Conservation Officer for the Center for Plant Conservation, where he represents NYBG on the steering committee of Local 59, an organization dedicated to improving the native plant supply chain.
In the afternoon he will feature the building of the 1930’s T. H. Everett historic rock garden at NYBG. Tom Everett had started at Kew but moved to the United States and built several gardens before going to NYBG to start the rock garden. Note: he was one of the founders of our society, then called the American Rock Garden Society.
And we will hold a plant sale! Bring your seedlings to share. Remember, donors get first pick. See you there.
Berkshire Chapter NARGS 