In May 2006 i saw in a flowershop 2 small pots of a plant that seemed to me some sort of Campanula in white and blue.
"A campanula here in Madeira?, I must buy it straigh away, and not let go this gold oportunity!!!"
And yep i was right, because i have not seen the plant again since
Then after an intense search i found that the 2 little plants i bough were in fact Platycodon grandiflorum and not campanula as i though in the beginning. After they flowered they have died to the ground. Next spring (2007) i had no growth at all, but the tubers were very healthy and resting. The same was about to happen this year, but since i was advised to use the refrigerator from several people here in the forum, i used it during 2 months with this plant to see what would happen. And guess what? 2 days just after i took it out of the frige the soil was already cracking and now several weeks latter i have my first bloom in 2 years!! And the plant is even bigger and full of buds. But unfortunately only the blue one survived, the white one rotted, but anyway, flowering a hardy like this one in this part of the world is the same thing as flowering a banana tree in the north pole! Ok probably i am exagerating, but anyway, i feel very happy with it and it gives me still hope for the next hardy or alpine plants that i might want to try in the future!
Here are the pictures of my King Platycodon (sorry about the quality though)
Michael
