Campanula rapunculoides (creeping bellflower, "Hatazaogikyo")

Japanese name: ハタザオギキョウ （旗竿桔梗）
Scientific name: Campanula rapunculoides

[Overview]
A perennial 0.6–1.2 m tall.
Thick rhizomes extend sideways and spread.
The stem is erect.
There are basal leaves and leaves arranged alternately on the stem; the basal leaves are triangular-ovate, about 12 cm long, with a heart-shaped base and leaf stalks.
The stem leaves are lanceolate and stalkless.
The leaf margins are serrated.
The flowers are borne in a long spike at the stem tip and open from the bottom upward.
The flowers are pale bluish purple, bell-shaped, 2.5 cm long, and face diagonally downward; the tip of the corolla is 5-lobed and the lobes curve back slightly.
The fruit is a capsule.

[History]
It arrived in Japan in the mid-1920s.
In North America it has become naturalized and is a problem.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by division.
It dislikes heat and humidity, but is easy to grow if the environment suits it.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained, airy place and should be kept out of the afternoon sun.
In warm regions, move potted plants to a cool place in partial shade in summer, and plant those in the ground under deciduous trees.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient unless a sunny spell continues and the soil becomes severely dry.
In spring, apply slow-release fertilizer placed on the soil.
Slugs can be a pest.

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