Common name: Fairy thimbles ‘Elizabeth Oliver’
Family: Campanulaceae
Origin: Europe
C. cochlearifolia is a firm favourite among alpine plant enthusiasts. It is found across a wide area in the European mountains.
The neat nodding bell-shaped flowers can be found in shades of lilac, lavender, blue and white. ‘Doubles’ are not uncommon.
A full ‘double’ is the clone ‘Elizabeth Oliver’, with light, powder blue flowers. It was introduced into cultivation in the 1970s. It takes its name from the daughter of a Mr. Bull, in whose garden it first occurred in Nottingham, England
This is a somewhat sprawling plant. Try confining it between rock slabs to direct the growth. For more information on this method of gardening, we recommend reading The Crevice Garden and its Plants by Zdenek Zvolanek.
Propagation is by simple division of the plant in early spring; there are no reports of this plant setting seed – this is common to many ‘double’ flowered plants as the reproductive parts have usually mutated to become petals.
