Campanula portenschlagiana Ambella Purple - Trailing Bellflower

Campanula portenschlagiana Ambella Purple is a compact variety of Wall Bellflower with a ball shape. This perennial is adorned with blue mauve star-shaped flowers for long weeks. It is a creeping plant that forms beautiful colourful carpets in spring and early summer, and sometimes again in September. Renowned for its robustness and adaptability, it is a classic in gardens. This wonderful, floriferous ground cover deserves a prominent place in rockeries, above a wall or in a planter where it cascades happily.

Campanula portenschlagiana belongs to the campanula family. It is a very hardy perennial plant, native to the Balkan mountains. In the wild it is found in rock crevices and high mountain scree. 'Ambella Purple' is a horticultural variety. It forms a cushion of 15 cm (6in) high, with a spread of 40 cm (16in). It spreads through stems that root on contact with the ground, allowing it to occupy an increasingly larger surface. Flowering begins in late spring and continues throughout the summer, more significantly in cool climates and soil that does not dry out too much. It is common for flowering to pause in summer when it is dry and hot and then resume in autumn. The bell-shaped star flowers measure 2 to 2.5 cm (1in) in diameter. The foliage is semi-evergreen to evergreen in winter, depending on the climate, and consists of small, hairy, long-stalked, heart-shaped leaves with toothed edges.

Campanula portenschlagiana 'Ambella Purple' does not like climates that are too hot and dry or have hot nights. It thrives in light, not too dry soil, but it hates stagnant moisture that causes root rot. It is easy to provide these conditions in a sunny or semi-shaded rockery. It quickly fills cracks in paving and covers old walls and low walls. Planted in a row, it creates adorable, neat small borders. It is suitable for wild gardens and pot planting, in a light and well-drained substrate. In hanging baskets, it cascades in small luminous curtains. You can combine it with a pink Diascia, a Diamond Frost annual Euphorbia with white flowers, or a yellow Coreopsis.