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Campanula - Growing Guide
Campanula - Growing Guide
Bellflower
The species and varieties of campanula which Burncoose offers are all clump forming perennials and perfectly hardy (some other species are annuals and not frost hardy). The attraction of these plants is that they provide such long lasting displays in herbaceous borders in the summer months. Indeed they are usually part of the quintessential English cottage garden.
The campanulas which we offer need rich moist but well drained soil. They are not too fussy about mildly acidic, neutral or alkaline soils and do well both in full sun and partial shade. You will find that taller growing varieties will need supports. The flowers are top heavy and wind or rain can batter them about or flatten them.
After the first flush of flowering is over you should risk cutting your campanulas back hard to encourage the clump to expand and, more importantly, to induce a second flush of flowering later in the summer or early autumn. This may well not be as bold and spectacular as the first.
If you, or your neighbours, grow different sorts of campanula they will inevitably cross fertilise each other’s flowers and not come true from seed. It is quite normal for the more common campanulas to self-seed and naturalise in bare ground nearby but these may have flowers of varied colours. Campanula grow easily from softwood cuttings but it is easiest to lift and divide mature clumps in the spring to create more plants.
C. carpatica ‘Blue Clips’, the Carpathian bellflower, grows to around 12in often from a larger clump and has large deep-blue flowers in early summer.
C. glomerata, the Clustered bellflower, forms enormous clumps and grows around 12in in height. We offer white and deepest purple forms which perform in early summer.
C. lactiflora ‘Loddon Anna’ grows much taller with a height of 3-4ft or so from larger clumps. The milky bellflower has lilac-rose flowers in profusion in late summer and needs staking/support.
C. persicifolia, the Peach flowered bellflower, grows to around 3ft and flowers in late summer with tubular bell shaped flowers. Support is advisable. We offer popular forms with white and pure blue flowers.
Plants
