Unknown Purple Flowering Plant..

When my grandad died in 2007, my mum took this from his garden, but we have no idea what it is..

& it comes back each year even bigger than the last!

Might not be able to tell, but it's growing across the patio flags..

SORRY FOR THE HUGE PICS! Not sure how to make them smaller





[I hope to God it's not a weed..]

Thanks in advance!

 

Hi
Its a campanula (common name bell flower) but lots of diffrent varieties , so I will leave that to somone else


Spruce

 

Thank you!! :yess:

 

:o:o:o

Spruce

 

I think I found one similar, called Campanula garganica

 

Looks like Campanula portenschlagiana ( C. muralis ) to me.

 

Thanks! I'd agree with that! :yess:

 

Glad to be of service Kyle.:D:D

 

Its a lovely plant Kyle. Worth encouraging - you can divide it and plant a chunk somewhere else. As you will know it flowers again in the autumn.

Dai - Do you know what the difference is between C. portenschlagiana and C. poscharskyana? The names are almost identical and the pictures always look the same - I get confused and have no idea which one I have.

 

The information I have Peter is. C. portenschlagiana:- spreading and mat forming, to 15x45-60cm( 6x 18-24in );seni-evergreen;mid blue, rather starry bells to 2cm ( 3/4in ) long.all summer. Long lived. V, easy & popular, shade tolerant.
C. poscharskyana:- ultra hardy; rampant, to 30x60-90cm ( 1x2-3ft ); lax stems form dense mats; lavender-blue starry flowers to 2.5cm ( 1in )across in long sprays, all summer. Rather coarse, but useful on very dry banks or to cover rough walls. Hope this helps Peter.

 

Thanks for the advice, guys!

When would be the best time to divide it up? After the flowering period?

 

Thanks Dai. I must look into it a bit further. I suspect that I have the popular one, which I wouldn't call very coarse. I have always assumed it was poscharskyana, but it sounds as though it may well be portenschlagiana. Though I would call mine mound forming rather than mat forming. It spreads quite easily, but once it has formed a mound, it never gets any bigger.

Kyle, I am not really sure when to split it. But I suspect that after flowering would be a good time. I tend to split it anytime I want another bit. In theory you could split it into very small pieces, but in practice good big pieces tend to have a better chance. The odd bit has died on me, after splitting, but that's unusual.

 

I'm so glad I looked in on this thread.

My wife's granny has just given us some of this same plant in a pot. It grows all over her patio, coming out of the gaps between the flag stones. Its a lovely plant, and I'm looking forward to getting it in somewhere permanent (my garden is still very much under construction). She said it flowers twice per year and spreads very quickly.

None of us (me, the wife, wife's granny) had a clue what it was until by chance I looked in on this here thread, so thanks to all

Quick question though. As soon as I read the name 'campanula', I said to the wife 'oh its a campanula' as though I knew what I was on about because I thought I knew the common name for campanula (if there is one), then I realised I didn't. Is campanula known by any other name?

 

According to Wikipedia, it's commonly known as 'Bellflower'