Top Three Perennials

Campanula is probably my favourite plant

 

I'm a pain I know, but are they woody then?

 

Not really. A bit thicker than Aquiligia, but not really woody.

 

A bit like this?


They're a real fave of mine too, but seem to hate the winter here.

 

I found this pic on line which is the type of plant I have. My colours are a pinky red and a blue.
I hope that helps

 

Thanks - looks like what I call Lobelia Fan series.
I'm growing from seed Lobelia excelsa which can grow to 5metres in the wild, but know nowt about how they'll do here - I was kinda hoping that you were growing it.

 

I know it's out of your preferred season but hellebores are wonderful while you're waiting for everything else to show. Mine have been in flower since before Christmas with no work required from me.

 

I had a quick trawl and there are a couple of other sites with some info that may be useful to you.

This Chilean native species requires full sun exposure and very little watering, which makes it adequate for xeriscaping.

Propagation from seed: regular spring sowing using a mix of 1/3 sharp river sand, 1/3 regular garden soil and 1/3 compost. Sow on top of this mix and gently press the seeds against the compost without covering them. Keep the sowing pan barely moist and pick once the seedlings have 2 true leaves. Plants grown from seeds mature and bloom on the second year.

Being Lobelia excelsa a very tall plant, it can be used to disguise a shed or a fence.

Not appropriate for containers.

 

Thanks for reminding me about these. I'd forgotten about them. I've had a couple over the years and they are really stunning when in their prime. I presume we're on about the same thing.

I'm not an expert on them, but it seems that Lobelia, to the typical gardener, can mean two different things. There's the delicate little flowers (trailing lobelia) that we would stick in hanging baskets, and then there's the bush ones that send up 2ft tall spikes of flowers. I've never seen one survive winter but they are nice. I can't remember what ones I had but one was crimson red on pea green stems, and the other was crimson red on red/brown stems. Both stunning.

 

Mine have been in the ground for about 10 years, surviving winter temps of -20C at times and significant snow. Northumberland tends to get a bit chilly in winter.
They do disappear to nothing over winter but always repeat.
See the pic. above to confirm the type of plant I mean as Bush Lobelia (Longk calls them "Lobelia Fan".

 

Clueless and Gcc - they're the ones that started me off on perennial Lobelias. Next cam "Queen Victoria"...........


................with its maroon leaves and stems.

Then L.tupa


Then my current favourite, L.laxiflora (last photo in post#9).

From seed this year, I have Lobelias valida (scented apparently), excelsa and polyphylla.

 

Whoops. Apologies to HarryS.
We seem to have hi-jacked his interesting thread for a while. I glad there are other Lobelia fans out there anyway

 

Gcc, I saw your pic. I think we're on about the same thing If yours survived the harsh winters we had in recent years, I'm not sure why mine didn't. I guess it has to be something to do with the soil? I had mine at my last house in Sheffield. The soil there was dire. Back then I was also unaware of the concept of mulching, and thought my neighbour was mad when he asked if I was going to put fleece on my plants for winter. I've learnt a couple of tricks since then, so maybe I'll give lobelia another go

Longk, that first one, Queen Vic, I think is the one I had last. The name rings a bell and the colours are right.

 

No need to apologise - we're just giving his question value for money!!

 

No problems wandering about on the thread as Longk says its added value
Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions a fantastic response . Monday night I am going to spend a couple of hours googling them all , then I can make my short list out