Campanula glomerata
Campanula glomerata “superba.”
Clustered bellflower.
Clustered bellflowers make superb cutting flowers. Mine have been steady bloomers each summer for at least a dozen years, and they have brightened many an early summer bouquet as well as adding a burst of strong colour to the June landscape.
They are deep purple in colour and add a strong punch of colour that helps my garden from suffering from pastel-itis. I have tons of lavender, soft pink, and pale blue flowers, so to have such a rich vein of purple running through the garden makes me almost sigh in relief.
I have planted my bellflowers in two locations. Well, three. One set of plants is set into the middle of the main garden in the hot sun. These don’t last very long – 10 to 14 days – and then they begin to fade. I can maintain an attractive planting for a while longer by deadheading, but eventually the flowers turn into a dull rust and the leaves look tired and wilted. It becomes obvious when it is time to yank most of them out. The flowers spread runners through the garden, but are very easily lifted.
My second and third plantings are side by side. I have bellflowers blooming freely in the shade of my lilac tree, pushing up against a pair of solomon seal plants that are just getting established. Right next to them, I have another planting growing along my east fence in a raised garden bed, cropping up among the deep red of the neighbouring Maltese cross.
I prefer the appearance of the glomerata plantings that bloom in the shade. They stay healthy and attractive looking for quite a long time, lasting for a few weeks beyond those in the main garden. I don’t cut these – I leave them to add their rich tones to this shadier area of my yard. I appreciate their longevity in comparison to their “sunlit” cousins.
Yet, in each location, they bring their magic. The blooms lower down the stems open gradually as the tops fade. I cut the plants back (when I have a little spare time), and this helps to improve their looks and gives the flowers lower on the stems time to have their own moments of glory.
I find these plants are a bit invasive, which is to say, they spread with ease. They are very easily controlled, however, and so it is not worth swearing off of these handsome plants just because they happen to be a bit headstrong. Think of how many of us would never survive in relationships if we didn’t tolerate a little willfulness in folks now and then.
And what a name for this sturdy bloomer: Campanula glomerata. It almost shouts “imperial.”
Photos & Text: NK
Copyright: cookiebuxton.com
