We often complain about the plants that croak during an especially hard winter. We just had one of them and I'm happy to report it did the trick on one plant I was getting worried about - Campanula punctata.

I had read horror stories about how this one can take over a garden fast. I ignored them and planted it 3-4 years ago. I made sure it was in an isolated area, poor soil, partial shade in hopes those factors would heed its spread. The plant THRIVED beyond my wildest dreams and began to spread everywhere it could. Luckily there was a lot of brick between it and the main garden, but it still did its best to travel wherever it could.

This spring it's almost totally gone. Maybe 1% of the original patch came back. The rest died out. I don't think I'm going to get rid of it though since I really like the flowers. Maybe a long, cold winter every once in a while will keep this one in check.

Kevin