Campanula raineri will rank as one of the finest of all the truly alpine campanulas, native to Europe. It is native to the upper limestones of the Bergamask mountains near the Italian lakes. Although this species is an absolute lime lover in nature, it is easy of culture in the garden. It is best positioned in a trough or a raised bed where the neat tufts of ash-grey foliage become hidden by the enormous upturned cups, a pale china-blue colour in late June and July.

It prefers to grow in cooler exposures where it will spread out by side runners and I would therefore choose a position which is afforded a little shade, perhaps planting it on the leeside of a piece of tufa rock. A word of caution! This campanula is the favourite diet of slugs which must be kept at bay. The great Alpinist and Yorkshireman, Reginald Farrer wrote, “the flowers are a waxy-smooth texture and a radiant charm of serene and unconquerable beauty impossible to express”. Well, he didn’t do too badly with his description, one I most certainly agree with. The plant is easily propagated from seed or by carefully detaching one or two underground runners from the parent plant and potting them up in a John Innes No 2 compost with some extra gritty sand.

A fine form of the species is occasionally offered, by the name of C. raineri ‘Gothenberg’.

The species and cultivar may be sought from the following sources:

Aberconwy Nursery, Graig, Glan Conwy, LL28 5TL, tel: 01492 580875

Slack Top Nurseries: www.slacktopnurseries.co.uk