GINA PARKINSON gets excited waiting for those first blooms

TWO plants put into our garden last year have flowered for the first time this month. It is always exciting waiting for those first blooms and Campanula glomerata alba hasn't disappointed.

Growing in part shade, the clusters of pure white bell-shaped flowers look their best as the sun moves from them and they are left to give a patch of light in front of a dark-leaved heuchera. There is only one flower stem this year but a larger clump should develop next year to give more flowers.

The Campanula glomerata species is a small group within the large campanula genus which includes a wide range of alpine and perennial species. Campanula glomerata itself grows to about 60cm high with violet blue flowers from June to August.

The popular vigorous variety 'Superba' can be invasive with large, rich violet flowers on stems up to 80cm high, while C.glomerata acaulis is virtually stemless, growing to only 15cm.

'Joan Elliott' flowers earlier than most, beginning in May with violet-purple flowers 30cm high and 'Caroline' has mauve marked shell pink flowers around 60cm in height.

The second new plant is Geranium pratense 'Splish-splash', which is growing towards the front of a partially shaded bed. The deeply-divided leaves are mid green with flower stems held well above them, each carrying several buds. The first flower is disappointingly white with only one small splash of blue on the underside of a petal where it can't be seen, but since each flower should be different on this variety, others will have more distinct markings.

Like the campanula family, the geranium genus is very large with the pratenses forming only a small part of the whole. There are a number of varieties within the group including several double flowered ones that tend to be less vigorous and with smaller flowers than the single forms.

'Mrs Kendall Clarke' is lovely with single blue-flushed flowers in June and July, strong growing 'Rose Queen' has pale pink flowers and the rarer 'Victor Reiter Jr' has striking purple foliage and dark lilac flowers.

Double varieties include 'Plenum Caeruleum' with small lavender-blue flowers occasionally tinged pink and 'Plenum Violaceum' with rich violet blooms.

Updated: 09:05 Saturday, June 22, 2002