Bring On The Bells

Unlike a lot of perennials, Campanula, commonly called Bellflowers, don't need to be situated in full sun; in fact, their cool, delicate flower colours hold better in partial shade. They also, unlike the majority of perennials, prefer moist (but well-drained) soil. If your yard, like mine, has damp shady spots, Campanula could be the perfect plant to fill in. I've grown various forms of Campanula for going on twenty years now and am impressed with both the reliability and beauty of their performance. Except for slugs, these stars of the summer garden are virtually untroubled by pests and diseases and most forms are extremely hardy, returning (and spreading) for many years.

(What do you do to get rid of slugs? I've tried everything from saucers of beer (unsuccessfully; the slugs here are used to swimming) through Slug Death (very successful but unacceptable because of our really, really stupid cat who tries to eat everything). Now I rely on the old primitive methods of stomping and salting... which works fine as long as you don't have a huge number of slugs...)

Campanula persicifolia (kam-pan'you-la per-sik-i-fo'lee-a), the Peachleaf Bellflower, is probably the most popular choice, perhaps because of its showy flowers or because it actually prefers cooler summer temperatures. Growing to 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide through zones 3-8, the tall narrow stalks are smothered in pale blue or white bell-shaped flowers throughout the summer if you deadhead regularly. 'Telham Beauty' is a particularly beautiful cultivar with pale blue flowers; I also recommend 'Pride of Exmouth', which has double powder blue flowers. There's a picture of C. persicilofia at http://homespuncrafts.com/campanula.jpg.

Another species that I've had great success with is Campanula glomerata, the Clustered Bellflower, which bears dense rounded heads of large bellshaped purple flowers all along its stem. 'Superba' is the cultivar I've always grown; it has violet flowers and grows to two and a half feet tall. Once flowering starts in early summer, I keep cutting off the huge purple balls as they fade and 'Superba' blooms on and on.

Texts advise that C. glomerata will need to be divided regularly to keep it vigorous when the clumps get overgrown (which could happen sooner than you think, as this is a very vigorous plant)! While C. persicifolia will only need to be divided every five years or so, C. glomerata will need dividing every two to three years.

Go To Page: 1 2 3