Tiny heart-shaped leaves in light green form a mat barely 8 inches (20 cm) high, scattered with pale blue-violet bells lighter than those of other campanulas. The Carpathian bellflower (Campanula carpatica) is an abundant, well-behaved ground cover for rockeries, wall crevices and bed edges; give it soil that drains freely and it needs almost nothing else.
| Botanical name | Campanula carpatica |
|---|---|
| Family | Campanulaceae |
| Type | Perennial |
| Bearing | Low-lying ground cover |
| Height | 8 inches (20 cm) |
| Planting density | 6 to 8 plants per sq. yard (m²) |
| Exposure | Full sun to part sun |
| Soil | Any type, well drained |
| Flowering | Early summer to early autumn |
Its leaves are teeny tiny, and shaped like hearts. Their light green color is simply perfect to decorate your outdoors when other blooms aren’t as prominent. This abundant flower-bearer that isn’t too invasive is the perfect add-on to every summer garden.
Not a very finnicky plant regarding soil type, Carpathian bellflower has perhaps only one requirement: it prefers soil that doesn’t retain water too much. You’ll have to ensure drainage is properly conducive.
Apart form this precaution, no other soil preparation is necessary to plant it. Simply dig a 4 to 6 inch hole (10 to 15 cm) and settle your plant in it before backfilling.
Since Carpathian bellflower is a variety that doesn’t send any runners out, make sure you don’t space your plants out too far apart, especially if you’re aiming for a lush, homogenous ground cover. If this is your goal, space plants at most 12 to 16 inches (30 to 40 cm) apart.
Beyond the white-flowered forms mentioned further down, Campanula carpatica is sold under a handful of named cultivars and seed series that differ mostly in flower colour and in how low they stay. All keep the same tidy, clump-forming habit.
| Variety | Flower colour | Height | Flowering |
|---|---|---|---|
| ‘Pearl Deep Blue’ | Deep violet-blue | 6–8 in (15–20 cm) | Early summer to early autumn |
| ‘Rapido Blue’ | Blue-violet | 6 in (15 cm) | Early summer to late summer |
| ‘Karl Foerster’ | Deep blue | 8 in (20 cm) | Early summer to early autumn |
| ‘Chewton Joy’ | Pale blue, darker edge | 6 in (15 cm) | Midsummer to early autumn |
Not a time sink at all, that’s for sure! All you have to do is check if it needs watering during longer-than-usual dry spells.
Pruning won’t be necessary. Nonetheless, wilted flowers sometimes seem to spoil the show, so you can remove them by pulling them off gently with your fingers. The plant will then generate a new round of foliage.
Carpathian bellflower may be targeted by snails and slugs who love attacking young leaves. To a lesser extent, you might discover frothy spittlebug, or froghopper larvae. These might weaken the plant if present in great numbers.
Diseases that most often infect bellflower include powdery mildew and rust.
Clump division is the easiest and fasted method to propagate Carpathian bellflower. To do so, simply pull the perennial out of the ground without damaging the clump too much. Then, break the clump up in as many smaller clumps as you need to get the right number of new plants. Replant them immediately where you think best.
To increase your chances of success, wait for fall in order to start dividing your plants.
When dividing, aim to give each piece a good handful of roots plus at least one growth bud or shoot, since divisions with both establish far more reliably than those missing either.
Water the new divisions in well and keep the soil damp until fresh leaves appear.
As is the case for a great many bellflower species, Carpathian bellflower is a ground cover perennial that’s ideal to fill in rocky terrain, flower holes in stone walls, mark edges and even simply garden boxes. You also have the option of growing it in flower beds, but you’ll have to plant it in front.
Grown in a trough or alpine sink, mix grit into the compost and top-dress with gravel so the crown stays dry.
Because it forms tidy clumps rather than runners, it edges a path without creeping into the paving.
Carpathian bellflower also exists with white blooming. These are the ‘Alba’ and ‘Weisse Clips’ cultivars (also called ‘White Clips’).
