Support for a memorial project.

Need your support, I will try, but most of you know
more than I... 

Dear Duncan,
 
I have been both enjoying and learning from your
gardening website. What a FABULOUS garden you have!!
 
I live in North Carolina, in the Piedmont region (Zone
7), and I have a problem I'd love to have your help
with, if you can find the time to
reply. Though I've had some small successes with
gardening in the past, my gardening years have been
few and far between .... i.e., I'm a
rookie ... and I've been trolling the web trying to
find the right plants (and hopefully seeds) for a very
special memorial project. 
 
My father died May 23 this year, so I had a VERY late
start, but I still want to plant a double border
around the headstone at the family
gravesite. After my initial look around, I decided on
an inner border of campanula, an out border of violas.
Then I decided I'd better plant the
flowers elsewhere to see how they did, so I now have a
small flower bed (with added lantanas, etc.) at one
end of my apartment building.
Planting in a public cemetery has some pretty strict
requirements, and my main individual aesthetic
requirement is that the flowers be (you
guessed it) BLUE. It's my dad's color, the one family
and friends all associate with him. Needless to say,
the "Blue Clips"campanulas I bought
are violet (there was only foliage when I bought the
plants), and I really need a blue campanula, or some
near equivalent. 
 
I think I have the viola problem solved, even though
violas disappeared from the local market this year,
but I really need help deciding on the
right bluebells and locating a seed source. I'll need
about two dozen plants, I think, for the border, and I
don't have the time for division or the
skill for cuttings (or the $$ for that many plants!!).
In effect, I'll be planting a 16-foot border that
should be no more than 12" wide (8" would be
better). I plan to amend the so-far unadulterated red
clay with pea gravel and pine bark soil conditioner,
and to use additional pea gravel as a
mulch for the inner border. The gravestone lies on and
directly faces about a 10-15  degree slope, in a
general NW-SE direction. There is some
amount of shade mornings from an oak tree about 10
yards away.
 
I've resigned myself to the fact that the bluebells
are going to have to wait until next spring, and may
just put out a small border of the T&M
Viola x williamsiana (that is, if I can ever find a
cool enough spot to germinate them) .... but I really
DO need help choosing the right bluebell,
and locating a source.
 
Here's a list of my basic needs for the bluebells:
 

     Low, neat habit .... 8" is the general height
limit, 6" or less would be better. I like the neat
mats of the campanulas, but have my doubts 
     about the carpaticas need for deadheading. 
     Evergreen foliage ..... My violas will be
everbloomers. The blue bells needn't be, but the
border must look good year-round. 
     BLUE flowers .... Light blue is just fine, the
chief association being my dad's "baby blue" eyes, but
any real blue will do. I am not lost in
     space on this: I can live with a violet blue,
even a blue violet that strikes the eye as blue. "Blue
Clips" doesn't do that. 
     Drought and full sun tolerance. Would adding one
of the moisture retaining gets to the soil mix help?
North Carolina summers are
     highly unpredictable, but it's not a bad idea to
count on very hot and very dry gardens in the height
of summer.

I don't have a greenhouse or coldframe, but I am
willing to work hard at germinating seed for any plant
you might suggest (I've done this with
pansies, etc. in past, in covered "greenhouse trays".)
 
Would you mind suggesting the right campanula (or
alternative) for my needs, and telling me where I can
find the seed, or, if need be, the
plants?
I would really appreciate your help with those or any
other suggestions you care to make.
 
Thanks for you time and concern, and your wonderful
website. My latest foray into gardening has become a
real adventure with the added
advantage of the web ... and the chance to do well at
giving my dad the flowers I promised him means a lot
to me.
 
 
Sincerely,
 
P

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