Adenophora lilifolia

Adenophora lilifolia has been with me for many years. I know I brought it from my old house where I had a nice little clump growing near the back door. What I don't remember is where or whom I got this plant from.

Adenophora is very similar to a Campanula. It grows a tall stem that is very upright and in early July (in New York) it is covered with lavender blue bell shaped blooms.

In another day or two I should have quite a few of these beauties blooming.

This morning I did a google search to see what information I could find out about Adenophora. According to my research, they like sun to semi-shade, are slow to establish, need excellent drainage, rich soil and resent being transplanted.

Much of that information is accurate with my own experience in growing them for 20 years. I have them in full sun with lots of compost (but they are slower there) and I have them in very filtered light with very lean soil. In the shady spot they are much more numerous, although it's taken years for them to fill in.

In the last year or two my Adenophora have self seeded into the gravel of the driveway. I was amazed at how many seedlings were there this year. Unfortunately the information on-line was correct when it said they resent being transplanted. I've worked hard to get them while they are very young.

Last year I managed to get a few seedlings out of the gravel and put them in a pot. They overwintered extremely well in the pot and filled it with growth in early spring.

If you have the chance to grow these beauties, I would advice you to give them a try. Today I'm going to cut one off and see how they hold up as cut flowers.

Melanie