Hard to tell the species/cultivar at that distance but it certainly looks like a Campanula. Maybe good old C portenschlagiana? It self seeds round here and I put up a photo on GW a while back.

Yep, one of those little creepers - maybe Birch hybrid, a popular dwarf siberian bellflower....obviously, i love them all.

Wow, wow, Floral_UK! That wall is spectacular! And, gee Campanula, I'm surprised that you were able to identify this plant (lol) I love them too.

I'll look up both varieties and send the info to my daughter. Thanks!

Molie

Floral uk, I remember you posting that photo once and I still remember it. Quite impressive. I just love the look of it. You must get a lot of enjoyment out of it. It really does a lot for that wall. And I love the gate too.

I've always been afraid to use campanulas. I have used campanula medium from seed, that is a biennial, and I've tried campanula 'Blue Clips' and 'White Clips' which don't seem to enjoy my conditions, but that's it. I have something that looks like an Adenephora that I pull out all the time to no avail, which is the worst of my weeds, but I am not positive it is adenephora and I worry it is a campanula. I do love the look of the creepers, but I use Veronicas instead only for safety's sake.

prairiemoon2 - I certainly do get a lot of enjoyment out of that wall, but it isn't mine. I just pass it on my walk to work. This plant self sows around my area and is to be seen in lots of old walls, although that is a particularly impressive example.

no need to worry, Prairiemoon - even the rampant pocharskyana is not really problematic - you simply grab all the spent tatty ends and gently tug....the whole mass will come off in your hands, leaving neat rosettes of evergreen leaves. Even the spreaders are easily popped out. Be brave - try the tiny little fairie's thimbles - C.cochlearifolia - a dainty yet tough little treasure. Or harebells, C.rotundifolia.

Such a nice walk to work, then, Floral, the wall and the plant make quite the picture.

Campanula, Easy to pull out doesn't sound too bad. The adenophora or campanula I have in the garden is relentless, you can pull it out all you want and it just grows back. I tried one summer to just cut it off at the surface every time it grew back for an entire summer and I wore out before it did. Digging it out didn't work, covering it with landscape fabric didn't work. Maybe I haven't gotten serious enough with it though.

So these harebells and fairy thimbles are out once you pull them out? They are very sweet and delicate looking with some great blue colors too.

I'd love to be able to grow those low growing campanulas...but they don't care for the upper south's heat and humidity ;(

I happened to see Campanulas on Bluestone Perennials and tried to sort out which were the ones to avoid and which might make a good addition to the garden. I liked this one that I linked to, wonder if anyone has tried it? Doesn't' sound bad as far as aggressiveness, or reseeding, could that be true?

Here is a link that might be useful: Campanula Portenschiagiana

this is a little darling - will reseed in cracks and crevices (as in Floras earlier photo). The naughtier C.pocharskyana is a bit more aggressive but the creeping portenschlagiana (those names!!) will stay in neat little clumps....and if you want to spread it around, you can simply break off a clump (It does not have a running rhizome). An understated pleasure, perfect for tricky corners and stony walls (sometimes seen with the wall toadflax, cymbalaria muralis and the tiny maidenhair fern, asplenia)

Yes, Prairiemoon, as Campanula says, C portenschlagiana is the one in my photo. It is more compact than Campanula poscharskyana which tends to put out longer stems.

Corydalis lutea is another wall seeder which occurs round here a lot. You can see a little C portenschlagiana peeping out from beside C lutea on these steps. Also on my walk to work.

Campanula, I love the look of this type of plant, so bright, very neat, looks very vigorous. I like that it reseeds in cracks, that I find amazing, that any seed can do that. I really don't have any walls though. I have some rock edges to some of my beds. Maybe it would grow there along the top of the rock edge. I wonder if it reseeds in the open on flat ground too?

Floral, you really do have such a pleasant walk to work! That is so pretty with the combination of the yellow and the purple. That is a mass of foliage to grow out of a crack in a wall!

I love the low-growing Campanulas and have ever since as a teenager I saw a wild Campanula rotundifolia covered with flowers growing on a gravel bank at the side of the road. Some I've had great success with while others I have killed repeatedly. I've done my best to avoid the species with a reputation for thugishness, either seeding around or running uncontrollably.

Ones I can't keep alive:
Campanula cochlearifolia I've tried three times in two different gardens with three different selections of this species, 'Bavarian Blue', 'Elizabeth Oliver', and the straight species. I've tried growing it in a rock wall and near the edges of garden beds where they won't be overwhelmed by larger plants, but they don't seem to survive the winter here.
Campanula garganica 'Dickson's Gold' is another I've tried in two different gardens three times. It fades away in the heat of summer.

Ones I've grown with success:
CAMPANULA carpatica white & blue selections, at least some of which were 'Clips'. These make neat tufts that bloom for a long time.
{{gwi:194451}}From Campanula 2013

Campanula poscharskyana, both the species and 'Blue Waterfall' in a couple different gardens. Spreads and drapes slowly; I've grown it in a dry stacked field stone wall holding up a terrace, and along the edge of beds. Flowers are more open stars.
{{gwi:194452}}From Campanula 2013

Campanula portenschlagiana, both the species and 'Resholt Variety'. I find it behaves similarly to C. poscharskyana growing in a wall, though I have heard it can be somewhat too enthusiastic. I like the bell-like form.

Campanula 'Samantha' is a lovely light purple blue at the rim that fades to white in the center. The flowers are held well above the foliage and it bloomed this year, its second, from mid-July through September in my garden, though it may have taken a few small breaks.
{{gwi:194453}}From Campanula 2013

Campanula 'Birch Hybrid' is a porscharskyana and garganica cross and has similar foliage and bell-like flowers to them.
Campanula glomerata grew fine, but when I moved I left this one behind without regrets. It doesn't have the delicate bells on thread-like stems of the ones that I prefer. It has relatively tights clusters of mixed flowers and small foliage on stocky stems. Just not my cup of tea.

Prairiemoon

My friend bought a plant labeled Adenophora (Ladybells) that has become an impossible-to-eradicate pest. This link suggests it may be Campanula rapunculoides. But the other campanulas are wonderful.

I love C. portenschlagiana for hanging baskets, C. rotundifolia (Bluebells of Scotland) in semi-shade with ferns, and C. glomerata in the rose bed if I can keep it protected from the slugs/snails!

Phooey on Dickson's Gold. Even when I babied it in a pot it croaked. Babs, I'll try 'Samantha' again since it's done well for you. If you ever see C. isophylla Alba, grab it. I had babies to tend and let is die. Never to see offered again :-(

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.examiner.com/article/adenophora-and-its-evil-twin-revisited

Sorry, C. isophylla is not for cold winter zones.

Babs, thatâÂÂs very encouraging that youâÂÂve had success with those and you are colder than I am, so I guess theyâÂÂre pretty hardy too. Your campanulas are so sweet. ThatâÂÂs a long bloom period with the âÂÂSamanthaâÂÂ. The one in photo #2 is a young plant? Is that pink plant in photo #2 a penstemon?

Thanks for sharing photos, IâÂÂd rather see it growing in someoneâÂÂs garden, than just going off a catalog photo. Bluestone has Campanula cochlearifolia âÂÂBavarian Blueâ which is pretty too. Claims to be hardy to z5. Is that the one you had trouble with? They have Birch hybrid which I really like.

Campanula, Bluestone also has Campanula Rotundifolia which should also work for me, because I have a lot of part shade/part sun situations to try it in.

There is a gold leaf veronica that resembles Campanula âÂÂDicksonâÂÂs GoldâÂÂ. I couldnâÂÂt remember the name of it and just looked it up. I think there are two. One is âÂÂAztec Goldâ and the other is âÂÂSunshineâÂÂ. I tried the âÂÂAztec Goldâ and it did nothing and one season and it was gone. I know others who have used the other one successfully, which I think is âÂÂSunshineâÂÂ. I donâÂÂt see it offered for sale anywhere though. It seems that Stepables offers it. It reminds me of Creeping Jenny but even prettier and of course, itâÂÂs not invasive like that one is.

So another plant that is new to me to add to my list this year, so this will be great. Thanks for starting this thread, Molie and that photo you shared Floral, was the âÂÂhookâÂÂ. :-) Thanks Campanula, for the push. :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Veronica 'Sunshine'

IrisGal, Thanks so much for the link to that article on the Adenophora vs Campanula. I had read a similar article once, but this article has a suggestion for how to tell the difference between the two, which I really need to do, because I am still not certain which one it is. ItâÂÂs a plant that was here when we moved in over 25 years ago and itâÂÂs still in the garden. Grrr!

PM2, photo 2 is Campanula portenschlagiana as a second year plant. It will continue to spread slowly. I tried Dickson's Gold' here in this spot in one of my tries, and it croaked, though portenschlagiana is quite happy here. The pink behind it (I think in real life it has a tad more lavender) is Penstemmon 'Sweet Joanne' which I read about on this forum. It is another long bloomer.

Photo 3 is 'Samantha' and it is also a second year plant. I don't yet have much of a feel for how much it will spread.

I would be interested in seeing if you have better luck with C. cochlearifolia, either âÂÂBavarian Blueâ or another selection. Campanula recommended it, and she is both warmer and has more limey soil than I do, and I'd be interested if your warmer climate will grow it or if perhaps I should try again with raised pH.

One thing I forgot to say - none of these are evergreen for me.

In our climate C portenschagiana is not only evergreen but puts out a few flowers in mild winters. I had a look at that gateway in the week and there are a few flowers open now.

mmmmm, I have had a few all winter (and astonishingly, there are still blooms on the persicifolias).

Bah, c.garganica aka Dickson's Gold - agreed, a bit rubbish. If you ever see either pulla or pulloides, get them - deep deep purple, lovely little plants.
PrairieMoon, .c.rotundifolia will get a bit straggly if grown with good living - treat it mean and it is a treasure.

Haha yes, I have grown seeds of rapunculoides for my woods (I may live to regret it but at this stage, it is the battle of the bullies). I did buy the plant from a nursery friend of mine who swears it is a non-running clone (Monksilver nursery, UK) and, in fact, it has been well behaved in its nursery bed (so far).

Babs, ThatâÂÂs a cute little Penstemon. I had âÂÂPikeâÂÂs Peak Purpleâ for four years and then it didnâÂÂt show up in the spring. IâÂÂd try them again, I really like them. I hope I can get a few of the Campanulas to try this year and IâÂÂll let you know how it goes.

Floral, your climate is so different than ours. I canâÂÂt wait for April!

Campanula, I have loamy clay and plants that need lean soil, usually struggle here. I can neglect it though, for sure. [g]

This thread has turned out to be a "keeper" which I will bookmark because of all the comments related to particular varieties and growing conditions in different zones.

I'll be seeking out c. cochlearifolia, "Samantha" and c. portenschlagiana this spring! I've also put them on my "New for 2014" wish list. I'm with PM2.... can't wait for April... even March will warm my gardening soul after this snowy winter (more snow is falling today).

Molie