Introducing into the Garden: Campanula

Now that the DC trip stuff is over, let's get onto the juicy plant-y stuff, newest additions!

While at my in-law's house, my equally plant daffy mother-in-law showed me around her garden (this is tradition, if you go to any of the women's houses in this family, you give an obligatory garden tour).  Mostly the tour was for, "see anything you like? Let's dig it up for you!" (Man, I wish all garden tours were like that)

One thing that caught my eye in her garden was this knee high plant with somewhat rangy looking toothed leaves but cute long, blue-purple colored bell shaped flowers.  Being a sucker for bell shaped flowers (lilies of the valley, daffodils... sort of bell shape? and the like) I asked about it, and for a while she had one of those gardener moments all of us hate, where we just forget the name and it's on the tip our our tongue and it's driving us mad that we can't rustle up that darn name.  So she starts vocalizing various sounds "Capa... cupa...Gah, isn't it terrible that I don't remember?!" and then it clicks in me what it might be, a plant that I've seen in catalog only, and had caught my interest there too. "Campanula?" I ask hesitantly, "Yes! That's it!" she says (and I do a mental air fist pump to myself at my success... it feels good to be able to identify stuff).

(leaf closest to flower is oregano, not the campanula's)

This was a very unusual campanula to me, most I've seen are very blue and very balloon-like when in bud and then open and star-like in its petals.  Though the ones in the catalog are quite charming I found that I liked this one much more than the catalog versions.  We slated this campanula as a "do dig for Persephone" plant and though I usually like to stick to edibles (as I often say) I'm getting the "flowers for the soul" thing more and more,  especially as I can get tired of having to tend to my edibles all the time fretting about "will I be able to eat fresh veggies this summer if the bugs/weather/stupidity kills them?"  Some regular ol' landscaping for prettiness can be easy on the eye especially when I care a lot less about their death if they go, and when they're easy to take of and perennial.  Gotta love them perennials.

I forgot to ask my mom-in-law as to what variety this patch of campanula's name is before I left, so I did some research and for a while thought it was the Scottish harebell (Campanula rotundifolia) variety, but upon closer inspection it appears very much not the case...

Google image search to the rescue!

I didn't think I'd have a chance at finding it, but after some searching I suspect that it's either Campanula takesimana or Campanula punctata.  If anyone has a good eye and can tell the difference between either an my pics and would like to point it out to me that'd be great.  I'm leaning a little more towards the C. punctata because the bells are not so flared open at the edges as much as the other, but still uncertain.

My mother-in-law warned me that it was sort of invasive.  "Excellent," I said and did a little Mr. Burns-esque finger tip waggle action.  I should really stop with those "potentially invasive" plants I know, but space, must be filled! But it reminds me... mint anyone?

(I love how hairy it is.  You know me and my love for hirsute-rific plants, hairy+bell shaped flowers=I'm there!)

For this campanula, leaning towards C. punctata it should get no taller than 2 feet tall, blooms late spring/early summer and is hardy from 4a-9b.  Should be planted in sun to partial shade, but my MIL had it on the east side of her house where it was running around rampantly, and east side's where mine is too.  I hear that it likes it relatively moist and I've been heartily dousing it in my 90+ F degree weather  while it gets established.  My bed drains relatively well though and it seems fine there for the week it's been chilling.

Hirsute-riffic plants

I have a confession to make:  I like hairy plants!

It's not meant to sound salacious, but hairy plants are awesome in their furriness.  It feel like they're diverging from their normal evolution.  A plant that yearns to be mammal, like my dog yearns to be human, have opposable thumbs and sit at the dinner table holding shiny things that shove food into her mouth.

Hairy plants are the closest thing to a pet that a person can have that you won't have close of an emotional bond to and feel guilty about if they decide to kick the bucket out of neglect from your silly self.

You just want to name a plant when it has fur.  Like this one is called Dotty:

My lambsears are unoriginal in their given name: Super Lamb-tastic (I have 4 patches of this stuff and they all are called the same thing.  It's like a hive collective mentality.  Borgs anyone?):

The Cuban Oregano I am dubbing to be Libre:

Even tomatoes are a little hairy when they get bigger, but as there are so many varieties and those names are interesting already, I'll let them keep those given names. (Random fact, did you know that tomatoes might be considered carnivorous?)

While velvet-y plants (lambsears are hairy and velvety to me... I think the gray color is closer to hair in my mind) are equally cool as hairy ones, but the velvet-y plants  just make me think of cloth and drapery. And I hate drapery.  Perhaps this is why I probably let my buck apiece violets die in my cold sunroom over the winter.  That and I always can never get them to rebloom and they just make me feel grandmotherly.  Nothing against grandmothers! (I love mine a lot!) But the idea of ever  being one is just weird.

I need more hairy plants, ones that will keep me warm for the upcoming winter!  I keep my house thermostat set so low... maybe this would be an ideal, green way to insulate a house!  Hirsute Plant Jungle House!  Are there any living hairy viney plants that would be ideal to be a scarf?  They have those wooly pouch plant holder things, purses with plants in them, why not a scarf?

A purple wandering Jew plant I have (Tradescantia pallida purpurea?)  is a nice color, doesn't need to much room for roots:

... I wonder if it's crochet-able?

Can't get enough of the fuzzy: Moss

Plants, we eat 'em for taste, we like how they smell and look visually for color and texture in the garden, but it's those rare few (like lamb's ears) that that make us feel like children by simply touching them.

Furry-like plants evoke this sort of odd line between plant and mammal, and like cat/dog/rodent owners, it's hard for us to fathom enjoyment in petting a fish or a turtle or snake (sorry amphibian/reptile/aquatic pet owners).

It's like the "cuddle affect," where when you encounter something soft and tickles your fingertips a person just melts and feels soothed.

That's moss for me.

(moss in its natural environment)

Moss is a great little plant--- and useful too:
(1) As many gardeners are familiar with, sphagnum and peat moss are helpful amendments andn growing mediums (though ought to be used/bought from sustainable sources or not used at all)

(2) As peat it's been a cheap renewable fuel source for those in many countries (if harvested properly).

(3) It makes scotch so darn tasty and distinctive.

(4) Sphagnum moss has been used in the past for dressing wounds due to its absorbancy levels and slight antibacterial properties.

(5) It's even forged ahead of its ancient roots to be part of biotechnology!

(6)... of course I had to say it, some varieties are edible!

I allow moss to grow wherever it wishes in the garden, mostly on the north facing brick under the brush by the house and on the soil where it creeps into off the brick and one concrete edgers, really softens things up.

It's surprisingly cold hardy for something so delicate looking, and with a little frost on it, it holds its own visually.

There's a fairly ready supply of moss in my garden and I luckily live near a woods and man-made creek where the moss likes to grow, so I gather some here and there at times and like to use it to make gifts as amusement for myself and others:

(Thrift store assumed to be wedding favor metal basket)

(full basket shot)
(side view of moss squished into lacey metal basket holes)

I've attempted, somewhat unsuccessfully, to propagate moss using the buttermilk/beer method, but maybe I'll try this recipe.

What probably happened (AKA "stupid things I did that you should avoid") is that I spread the mixture on too dry or sunny areas slash I didn't "mist" them enough to make sure they were happy, which means they probably also weren't in a naturally happy location in the first place.

Though moss propagation is slow, it's better to grow your own rather than constantly harvest it from the wild as its slow growth makes it hard for it to recover.

Here are some great examples of moss art/graffti/use:
http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/moss-bathmat-feels-good-looks-great-075565
http://storiesfromspace.co.uk/data/html/mossgraffiti.html
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/08/eco-graffiti-london-brooklyn.php
http://www.dwell.com/articles/unauthorized-moss-art.html