CAMPANULA. Bellflower. Widespread, Northern Hemisphere. Showy perennials of variable habit, many of them well adapted for rock garden and container use. Most have attractive basal foliage and bright, bell to saucer shaped flowers, their shades ranging from violet or deep pink to white. Most are winter-deciduous. Sun or part shade, most soils, regular watering for most species. Hardy to 0oF. or below, except as noted. Why do we grow so many? Don’t ask.
alliariifolia. This is a robust perennial, rising 2’ or more in flower. It has long-stalked, nearly heart-shaped basal leaves, up to 3" long. Both leaves and stems are furry throughout. It is summer-blooming, with many broad 2" bells nodding along one side of each erect stem. Flower color is usually cream-white.
carpatica. Tussock bellflower. One of the showiest of the low growing campanulas. It forms tight low mounds with scalloped leaves with many upfacing bowl shaped blossoms in summer. The variety turbinata has bright purple 2" flowers on 6" stems, while alba displays similarly large but pure white flowers on 8-10" stems.
glomerata. Quite distinctive in texture, this species typically has basal clusters of large rabbit ear leaves and tall (2' or more) blooming stems along which purple bell shaped blossoms are arranged in dense, separated clusters. The variety acaulis is atypical with congested growth, displaying its flowers in massive clusters 6" tall or less. ‘Joan Elliott’ displays 2' stems of vivid purple flowers. The seed strain ‘Crown of Snow’ has slightly shorter stems, very large clusters and pure white blossoms.
kemulariae. A broad but very low mat. The leaves are scallop-edged, dark green and beautifully shiny. The flowers are broadly bell-shaped and bright purple in color. They appear in late spring and summer. 10oF or less.
latifolia. This is one of the classic tall bellflowers. As the species name suggests, it has crowns of broad basal leaves, each up to 6" long. From them rise stems as much as 3’ tall, carrying many broad 2" bells. These range in color from violet to pure white. We have developed strains representing both extremes. The show begins in late spring, and with cutting of the spent flower stems before the seed pods develop, can be renewed several times over the course of a season.
poscharskyana. Serbian bellflower. Once it would not have occurred to me to include this common ground cover in the guide. However, campanula enthusiasts have been busy making new selections, and the result is some substantial improvements on an old theme. This is a tightly clumping perennial, with more or less evergreen basal foliage and seasonal flowering stems which trail and ascend to 1' or more. The leaves are somewhat dull in surface, crinkled and toothed, making them less attractive than those of many bellflowers. However, it fills in well and produces great quantities of lavender-blue 1" bells, from spring to fall. ‘Alba’ is a selected form with nearly (not quite) pure white flowers. ‘Blue Gown’ has prettier blossoms of light, nearly true blue. ‘Lisduggan’ has lavender-pink blossoms. Below 0oF.
trachelium. Nettle-leaved bellflower. This is a stout plant forming dense crowns of broad, scallop-edged leaves. Both these and the 1-3’ stems are set with bristly hairs. Broad lavender to white bells are borne in dense, branched clusters in summer.