Trailing Bellflower

A refined and elegant late-season bloomer, Cyananthus microphyllus is a prostrate, deciduous perennial that originates from the Himalayas. It forms a low mat of very small, lobed, dark green leaves on slender, radiating stems. Unlike many alpines that bloom in spring, this species waits until late summer and autumn to produce its startlingly bright, deep blue, funnel-shaped flowers, each with a distinctive hairy throat and five flared lobes. It is an excellent plant for adding colour to the rock garden when other inhabitants have finished their display. In the UK, it prefers a site that is cool and moist but well-drained, making it ideal for a north or east-facing rockery or a peat-style garden. It does not tolerate being baked in hot, dry conditions and benefits from a mulch of fine grit to keep its stems off damp soil. Its graceful, trailing habit makes it perfect for spilling over the edges of a raised peat bed.

Sun: Full sun to partial shade.

Soil: Moist but well-drained, humus-rich acid soil.

Hardiness: H4 — down to −10°C.

Flowering: Aug, Sep.