Bellflower, cute little flower

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Leaf bunches studded with cute little bells in lavender blue, violet blue, red or white spill over edges, rocky ground and pots. Bellflower (Campanula) is a near-effortless perennial for edging and ground cover — just keep it out of excessively chalky soil, where leaves turn yellow, and the decorative effect is guaranteed.

Caring for these plants from planting to blooming is very easy and their decorative effect is guaranteed.

Planting bellflower

Best is to plant your bellflower in fall, but you’re also free to plant in spring in light and well-draining soil.

Best emplacement for planting bellflower

Bellflower will be quite happy anywhere in the garden, even in garden boxes, pots or containers on a terrace, deck or balcony.

It finds edges, rocky ground and flower beds particularly appealing.

Avoid excessively chalky soil, because bellflower has a repugnance to chalk. It often results in leaves turning yellow.

• Enrich the earth from your garden by mixing in some soil mix and you’ll increase the blooming.
• Keep a distance of around 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25 cm) between each plant to give each the space it needs.
• Water regularly at the beginning and then if the weather is dry.
• Propagate your plants by dividing them in fall, it is quite easy to do and it rejuvenates the plant every 3 to 5 years.

Caring for bellflower

There are a great many bellflower species, over 300. Most bellflower types are easy to care for and only require a little care, especially when properly settled in.

• To allow for appearance of new flowers, cut wilted flowers regularly.
• Bellflower copes well with sun, moderate watering and relatively dry soil.
• But if ever a long dry spell has come, feel free to water in the evening.

Fertilizing bellflower

Like most flower plants, bellflower extracts from the ground the nutrients it needs to bloom.

After 1 or 2 years, especially for bellflower in a pot or garden box, it is preferable to provide flower plant fertilizer in spring.

Adding fertilizer will act as a tonic for your bellflower and will increase the blooming as years go by.

Which bellflower to choose

With over 300 species in the genus, the bellflowers sold in garden centres range from flat carpeting types a few inches high to border plants approaching waist height. Height and habit decide where each one belongs.

Bellflower diseases and parasites

Even though it is quite resilient, bellflower is rather vulnerable to parasite attacks. Typical pests are red spider mite, caterpillars and slugs.

The threat won’t make much damage though and it will only very rarely reach the point of eradicating your bellflower.

• Slugs are most active in damp, mild conditions, and they readily feed on soft young growth such as seedlings and new shoots, which they damage more easily than tough mature foliage.
• Red spider mite builds up in hot, dry air, so turn over the leaves of potted bellflowers and look for fine webbing and pale stippling.
• Soil that stays waterlogged can rot the crown of bellflowers, a common cause of plant loss, so site campanulas only where water drains freely rather than in heavy, persistently wet ground.

All there is to know about bellflower

This perennial often grown as an annual or biennial depending on the species, makes for very good ground cover.

There are over 300 species so don’t be surprised if your bellflower doesn’t grow back every year, it is probably an annual or a biennial species.

It produces leaf bunches decorated with cute flowers which are lavender blue, violet blue, red or white depending on the variety.

Very strong, it is particularly well suited to growing at the foot of perennial beds. Try it along edges, on rocky terrain and ground cover for the Campanula muralis type.