PlantFiles: Canterbury Bells
Campanula medium var. calycanthema

Here in northern WV I tried to grow these from seed 2 years in a row with lousy results. Last fall, I dug up the one tiny plant that survived summer, put it in a pot in the basement for the winter (with occasional grow-light and water). I brought the sad looking remnant outside this Spring, sat it in full sun, and now I have a sprawling plant absolutely covered with large blooms. One side of the plant has cups AND saucers, the other side is producing only cups. Regardless, it is gorgeous and was worth the wait. Hopefully, will be able to harvest seeds and start over again next season.

I bought this as a seedling a few years ago at a roadside nursery. It was very beautiful. Only grew that one summer but was worth the effort.

Positive so far, but I only have seedlings I need to get in the ground before cold weather... 300 of them! I'm hoping to sell them as cut flowers next year. They were easy to germinate in trays although somewhat slow to grow to real leaves.

i planted pink canterbury bells for the first time this spring. the first plant bloomed beautifully - the second isn't quite as colorful (heat?) and the third on has a nice green base, but no sign of an flower stalks coming yet. will i be able to save the seed pods in the same way i save hollyhock seeds and plant them indoors next march?

Although a biennial in Zone 4 it is worth the effort. Large bells (cups) with equally impressive saucers in both deep purple and white. My plants are very vigorous, with up to 20 prolific stems per plant. They make impressive cut flowers. These flowers seem more robust than the regular canterbury bells (without the saucer), as I have both currently in my garden.

Large, beautiful bell shaped flowers. It does not have the "saucer" like some Cup and Saucer flowers do. Takes a fair amount of shade.

Light aids germination of seeds.

If you grow plants from seeds, as I did, make sure you clearly label and stake out the area where they are planted, or you'll end up with 'surprise plants' like I did!

For the longest time I remained puzzled about these plants, and the flower pods seemed to take forever to open. The stem was 3' tall and covered with leaves and mystery bloom pods, and my curiosity nearly killed me. When they did finally open in early June, the blooms were spectacular!

It is now the end of August, and there are still some blooms opening on these plants! And bells cut off at the stem and kept in a vase last for weeks, as long as the water is changed daily.

Garden fairy, aka DD, evidently planted these in a cottage garden mix she threw about. Didn't know what it was. After 2 years I told it "bloom or be removed." Low and behold, 4 colors and all beautious. Query. Can I move them? The grand design did not include them where they are currently residing.

My experience with this plant was positive. Very easy to grow, (I'm in the Mid-Atlantic), didn't seem to mind the very acid soil near evergreen shrubs, seemed to thrive in it! Very pretty. They were shorter than I expected, but required no special care, (except staking some), no diseases or bugs, and they germinated quickly from seed.

I was amazed to see how long the flowers lasted out in the Southern California sun. I waited 10 days for more flowers to bloom before I took a picture, and I only had to deadhead 5 or 6 flowers. Wow!

I planted these with painted daisies (pyrethrum) and the effect was really pleasing. This is a great color spot to provide blues among all the pastels in most gardens.

Very pretty biennial plant, I grew mine from seeds. It bloomed twice and produced big pods which had seeds I think, but they had dropped out, when I tried to pick them, there were somekind of small sharp needles that stung me. So wear gloves if you try to collect them..

I sowed mine just outdoors, I bought a cheap packet of the seeds and I spread the seeds on top of the soil on a small shady area. They sprouted and I got many seedlings which from about 8 survived. I replanted them to half-shady area and next Spring they were still alive :D One bloomed. Other probably will bloom next summer.

Mine bloomed nicely last summer, but did not make it through our zone 5 winter.

Grows in Heat Zones 9-1.

A classic cottage garden plant, this biennial bellflower has large showy blooms of pink, blue, purple, and white. There are varieties sold now that claim they can be grown as an annual but typically they are grown as a biennial. The first year they form a rosette of deep green foliage and in the second year they send up multiple stems with 3-inch cup shaped blooms. A native of southern Europe, they grow 2 – 4 feet tall and are hardy in zones 4-10.