It was well-behaved here. It died and didn't grow at all.

Well, at least it went quietly - no kicking or screaming. I guess that's something.

Kevin

I think it couldn't take the heat here. It seemed very weak. Maybe it has to be grown in cooler zones, but it was claimed to be hardy to my zone.

I wanted this one so badly. Had one I got from a plant swap and the dog grabbed the pot and ran off with it... oye. I just ordered Adenophora Tashiroi from bluestone (they didn't have the sarastro anymore it seems). Hopefully it will be okay.

From what I've read about this plant, the general consensus seems to be "constant moisture" almost a must. Well, my plant was pretty abused last summer because of the drought and the fact I just didn't have the time to water like I should have. I fully expected this one to be one of my winter casualties which clearly didn't happen. So far it seems pretty tough. I'll see what happens now that we've had something like 5 inches of rain this month.

Kevin

It's well-behaved for me in a sunny position along-side the driveway. It's been there for years.

Hi there,
I just came across the website of the breeder of Sarastro some weeks ago. In their description runners are not mentioned. And they say it got some international best plant award, so my educated guess is that it is just vigorous.
they say it is a hybrid between Campanula trachelium and C. punctata var. hondoensis, no clue whether one of them is a spreader, but you could google them.

Bye, Lin

Here is a link that might be useful: the breeder and his interesting nursery

Thanks for the update. I have a feeling this one is going to be OK. As to the runners I appear to see, they appear very short, so maybe they won't behave like some of more rampant varieties.

Kevin

I was actually hoping this plant would run all it wanted. I like the blooms but it just wouldn't grow here. I might try it again in less sun.

I have well drained soil and it increased dramatically the first year (like you said, maybe 3 times or even more) and now it makes a nice clump for a couple years now. I really like it & don't see runners so far.

I planted two of these in late May this year. No signs of blooms (I don't expect any until next year anyway) and both clumps are healthy.

Today while watering I was surprised to see that both clumps are already sending up plantlets from underground, some of them a good six inches away from the mother plant.

So in my garden at least, 'Sarastro' looks like it will be a spreader albeit a relatively compact one.

I bought several Campanula Ringsabell 'Indigo Blue' and 'Mulberry Rose.' Both of these are awesome. They seem to be growing better here and bloom constantly. They also are not supposed to spread as much, but I have been able to remove offsets to make more of both.

I've had Sarastro for years and it has basically remained the same size. No spreading...
Someone mentioned an adenophora. Now, that is a thug...at least the "lily leaf lady bells" adenophora I have is. I've been trying to get rid of it for years.

I think my initial fears may have been unfounded since it doesn't appear to be doing much spreading, but I'll see what happens after another year.

As I said, this was my second year with this plant, so I only recently had my first experience with the blooms. So far, I'm not overly impressed - in fact I was kind of disappointed.

The flowers are very large in proportion to the plant, so in my mind they looked kind of odd. Maybe it will look better when the plant gains some size. Also, right when the flowers opened we had a very heavy rain and all the stems ended up flat on the ground. I've cut everything back and we'll see if it reblooms like others have said it will.

Kevin

Mine behaved pretty well it first year. Second year it came up it had spread so far it was scary. Fleshy white roots everywhere. It went to compost heaven. There is a possibility that it wasn't the real Sarastro. Digging Dog Nursery was the only place that still had them that year. Afraid to spend money to try it again.

Kevin, I planted my 'Sarastro' last summer and it's up and blooming very well this season. Most of the replies you've gotten here suggest a non-thug. I hope that's right, because I really like the plant, especially that intense saturated purple in the flower.

Rather than cut it back for rebloom, i just deadhead individual flowers, and it does well.

I shovel-pruned Serastro after one season because it was spreading much more abundantly than I was comfortable with. Its location was part-sun and fairly moist, near my astilbes, and it was VERY happy there. Too happy. And after a run-in with Cherry Bells a few years before, I'm very leery of adding campanula to my garden, especially if it seems robust.

My first died(too dry ?), but before it died I could easily see its runners. Now I was tempted by a bigger potful(the plan is to plant it in a bottomless bucket), but it seems like it has no stamina to stand up when several flowers open. It was advertised as an "improvement" on Kent Belle. I cannot see what has been improved. Kent Belle, if not overfed, stands up better in the rain.

Here's a photo of my Serastro, before it began overstepping its bounds. I had no problems with it, except that it was over-eager -- pest-free, no flopping in its sandy-but-moist, part-sun location:
{{gwi:226705}}

Sorry, unless I'm missing something that is not a campanula. That's a columbine.

wieslaw - I'm still waiting for mine to rebloom (if it does), but what you mentioned is correct as far as I can see. When all the flowers were open I just had a feeling the whole thing would tip over with the first storm. The flower stems appeared too weak to hold up all those blooms. And that's exactly what happened.

Kevin

This post was edited by aachenelf on Thu, Jul 18, 13 at 9:54

and a nice looking columbine it is ... :)

D'oh! Of course you're both right. I thought sure I had taken a photo of Serastro before I yoinked it out, and when I saw the big plant with the purple blooms in that photo this morning, I re-posted without really looking at it. Rummaging through my pix post-coffee, it seems I don't have a copy handy of the photo I'm thinking of.

But I *did* grow it, and it *did* overstep its bounds quickly. THAT much is accurate. :)

I've grown Kent Belle for years and it's never spread. In fact, it's now being squeezed out between a salvia and a catmint.

However, my original plant seeded way across my yard into a different garden 5 years ago. That plant has held up very nicely during the many torrential rain storms we've had this summer. A few of the outside braches flopped, but the main part of the plant held up.