PlantFiles: Bellflower
Campanula 'Sarastro'

I'm not positive on the variety of campanula that I have since I got a start from somebody else's garden. Mine is very hardy, no trouble, not invasive, does well anyplace I have put it and is always a joy to see in bloom. It blooms for quite a long time and is a nice blue that seems to go with anything growing nearby. An A+ kind of plant in my opinion.

I bought one of these plants in July 04' in full bloom from a local nursery. I almost hesitated because of the price ($13) but it was a 2 gallon pot and the plant was absolutely breathtaking. The royal purple bells, of which the plant was covered - were up to approximately 3" long! I couldn't find much information on this plant so I watched it closely over the summer.

What is interesting is how the new buds look...deep purple (almost plum) and "shriveled" looking. When I first noticed this I actually trimmed some shoots that I thought were gone so as to encourage new growth. A week later I had a new shoot with the same shriveled-looking buds and a light went on! Suddenly, these buds burst open and you have these incredible flowers!

It's now October 10th and this bellflower has continued to bloom almost nonstop - I see new shoots and 1 lone 2" flower blooming defiantly! The blooms do get smaller as the summer/fall progresses, but in our area (zone 5) it's amazing to having flowers blooming at this time of year, especially since we've already had 2 nights of frost/freeze warnings. Also, deer got into our garden and lightly browsed this plant last week - this week there's already a new shoot!

June 19, 2005 - Growth rate is phenominal! The clump planted last year has increased by perhaps 3 times. See my pictures for a one year difference in growth. WOW!