Campanula lactiflora Blue Pouffe

Campanula lactiflora 'Blue Pouffe' is a compact and bushy milky bellflower variety, with small star-shaped flowers in an attractive soft and luminous lavender blue covering its foliage from June to October. Spectacular despite its modest size, this very hardy perennial is truly undemanding. It will thrive in full sun, or in partial shade in hot climates, in ordinary but loose, well-drained soil, even limestone, if moist in summer.

Native to eastern Turkey and the Caucasus, the Milky Bellflower is a tall herbaceous perennial plant of the campanula family. The 'Blue Pouffe' variety is mainly distinguished by a more modest growth and a much more compact and bushy habit. It develops very quickly into a clump of leafy stems as wide as it is tall, reaching about 45 cm (18in) in all directions. It blooms for a long period, throughout the summer, if you regularly remove its faded floral stems. Its sturdy upright stems form compound panicles of flowers measuring 1 to 3 cm (1in) in diameter, in a light lavender blue with milky highlights when backlit. The flowers are widely open bells with 5 petals. The foliage consists of long, slender, oblong, and toothed, medium-green leaves.

The 'Blue Pouffe' Bellflower is an excellent fast-growing perennial that will work well in borders or flower beds, in a sunny or partially shaded location in hot climates. It is an ideal companion for all roses, from the most natural to the most sophisticated. It also pairs well with pastel pink annual poppies or orange-pink coneflowers, perennial geraniums, and bergenia. Its flowers and sturdy stems will blend perfectly in summer bouquets.

An ecological asset: Throughout the summer, the nectar-rich flowers of the Milky Bellflowers attract pollinating insects and butterflies to your garden, providing a good way to improve the ecosystem of your garden and promote the production of fruits and vegetables.