Campanula portenschlagiana varieties/hybrids

shaun342

Hi all

Is anyone here familiar with different variations of Campanula portenschlagiana? I'm trying to work out if it's possible to tell them apart from characteristics like flower colour, leaf variations etc.

Mainly I'm looking to identify the more vigorous varieties to use as a quick ground cover, but I'm aware some are bred to be less vigorous, or for longer flowering periods etc.

Some garden centres simply label them as Campanula, but a lot of the named ones seem to crop up now and again (Resholt's variety, and Clockwise I see a lot at the moment). Even the descriptions I find online can be a bit vague so I'm trying to compile a list of the ones I see the most and their particular strengths/habits (although I've only got as far as writing their names at the moment  ).

Thanks in advance!

Fairygirl

Hi @shaun342. I've only grown the bog standard one, so I can't really comment on how the named ones behave, or their differences. I expect the differences will be quite small though.
Your conditions will also dictate, so what is a bit invasive in one garden, might be better behaved in another. 

Sorry - that's not terribly helpful, but someone else might see your query now, and be able to offer something more useful

shaun342

Thanks Fairygirl, appreciate the reply. Portenschlagianas are one of my garden favourites and I've been meaning to swot up on them for ages - it's become a bit of a personal mission to collect the different types, or catalogue them at least. I have several different versions so far (in pots) but only one of them is named so have some catching up to do... Although my short term goal at the moment is to get a super vigorous one to cover a huge bed

punkdoc

As far as I am aware there is only one named variety, C.p Caterina.
C. muralis is another name for C.p.
There are other ground cover Campanulas, but they are different species.

shaun342

punkdoc said:

As far as I am aware there is only one named variety, C.p Caterina.
C. muralis is another name for C.p.
There are other ground cover Campanulas, but they are different species.

Interesting - I keep coming across a 'Catherina' which is probably just a different spelling (I see a few variations like Resholdt's Variety in one place whereas elsewhere it might be listed as Mrs Resholt). I've found in garden centres with a good alpine section they'll have a couple of different portenschlagianas for sale.

So far I've seen:

Ambella

Birch Hybrid

Catherina

Clockwise

Miss Melanie

Resholdt's Variety (Mrs Resholt?)

*Also Muralis and Muralis 'Major'

I did try ordering wholesale from a well known online retailer but they sent a load of Campanula Poscharskyana instead!

punkdoc

Muralis is just another name that is used for C. p.

shaun342

punkdoc said:

Muralis is just another name that is used for C. p.

Yes I've just listed it as both forms (along with a couple of portenschlagianas) were offered at the same nursery, so figured there must be some distinguishable difference between them...

BobTheGardener

Might be worth trying them from seed?  I expect they'd be some natural variation and something interesting may turn-up.