April 29, 1998

On our family vacations, we visited many public and private gardens. Our kids claim they saw too many gardens. Seeing new (at least to us) plants and different plant combinations is exciting for anyone who enjoys flower gardening, and absolute torture for those who prefer the beach or the mall. On these expeditions we encountered many plants that now reside in our own gardens. There are hundreds that I would love to tell you about, but I'll narrow it down to just a few for now.

Calamintha nepatoides 'White Cloud' has been in our garden for several years. The common name is calamint, but this particular plant is named 'White Cloud' because the flowers are white, not blue like those of common calamint. The airy clouds of bright white flowers hover above a mounded form of mint-scented, oregano-like foliage. The flowers will remind you of baby's breath.

'White Cloud' stays compact and doesn't meander, making it a good edger. The plant itself gets about a foot tall but the flowers carried above the plant add another eight inches or so. We have some planted in light shade and a few in full sun. They all bloom at full speed from June to October. Calamints grow in average or dry locations and don't like wet feet. Garden designers often plant calamint alongside garden paths, where a passing touch will release the scent of the foliage.

Dalmatian bellflower, Campanula portenschlagiana 'Birch's Hybrid', is my favorite of the campanulas. Like calamint, it is not only a good plant for the edge of the border, but it also blooms forever. It grows only about six inches high and forms a mound about a foot wide. Campanula is Latin for "little bell" which accurately describes the shape of the lovely purple-blue flowers. 'Birch's Hybrid' is well behaved and stays put, a choice plant for a rock garden.

Another excellent bellflower, Campanula glomerata 'Joan Elliott', the clustered bellflower, blooms in May and June and is about 18 inches tall. The flowers are funnel-shaped and born in dense clusters. 'Joan Elliott' is a good plant for lightly shaded areas. It prefers rich soil and does best if divided once in a while.

There is a long list of bellflowers and some are considered weeds by experienced gardeners. If the tag in the pot says only "campanula" or just "bellflower", there's a good chance you're about to buy a scalawag.

If you have pasque flower, Pulsatilla vulgaris, in your garden it is probably blooming now. Lovely two inch bell-shaped flowers with pointed petals are perched atop erect stems. Tiny, finely divided ornamental fern-like leaves appear after the flowers fade. In sunlight the entire plant glistens with long silky hairs. You'll see fuzzy seed heads of silver down after flowering. Often incorrectly called anemone, the pasque flower does best in well drained areas. Wet winter soil is a death sentence.