PlantFiles: Bells of Ireland
Moluccella laevis

From your friends at Botanical Interests: Annual. Blooms late summer. 2' - 3' tall. Full sun. Tall spikes of apple-green "bells" are perfect for the back of the border! A wonderful cut or dried flower. Turns straw-colored when dry. Self sows - will come back from seed the following year. Sow early spring, 2 - 4 weeks before last spring frost. Sow inside 6 - 8 weeks before last frost. Germination hint: Refrigerate seeds for 1 week before planting. Seed requires light to germinate - press lightly into soil surface and keep moist. Likes a well-drained, moderately fertile soil.

The seeds appear to keep very well. I had 4 seeds left from a packet purchased in 1994 and 3 of them germinated this year with no special care (other than starting them in a 4-pack in my greenhouse). Very nice contrast plant; great for cutting gardens.

I really like this plant. It is outstanding in cut bouquets. Always the last one to fade. Still looking good when the rest have to go. When I emptied my containers, the roots on this plant had what looked like tubers on them.

Am very curious about that. Since no one else has mentioned this I think I will grow them again next year and see if that happens again and then hold those over the winter and see what happens.

Unusual lime green color and dramatic spikes look great in arrangements. Needs cold exposure to germinate - I direct-sowed the seeds in the fall/early winter and they germinated the following spring. Easy to collect seeds from dried "bells" - there are 4 seeds in the base of each one; be careful for the small thorns on the stem which are soft when the plant is green but become sharp when the plant dries. Spikes do tend to flop over when they get large. Good for a cutting garden.

These have some very good points:

-lovely spires of bells
-beautiful and unusual lime green color, sets off the color of other flowers well
-very easy to germinate and grow

But they have some very bad points too, in my opinion:
-horrible, astringent stink that emanates from them and permeates the garden. The smell stays on your hands all day if you touch them and is hard to wash off.
-they flop over all over the place and look like a regular mess in the garden. More useful for cutting, but I can't stand the smell in the house.
-the bells are mostly hidden by the leaves, you must remove the leaves to see them
-spires are covered in prickles that look soft but are actually painfully sharp.

All in all, I will probably not be growing these again. It was fun to try though.

the seed packet says that the seeds should either be chilled in the fridge for 5 days before planting, or soaked in warm water for 3-4 hours before planting. Sounds like cold temps are important for germination.

(Seed packet - Burpee's, packed for 2007; origin - Holland)

I planted them for the first time this year.They turned out well.I started them from seeds and had enough to give away to family and friends.Very beautiful flowers and a strong sent that smells like lemon.I plan to resow next year.

watch out for the thorns
I planted them from seed in 2005
and self seeded in my garden in 2006
had never heard of this plant before 2005 the bells are pretty

Bells of Ireland is an interesting enough plant, but not one of my favorites. It has self-seeded some, and I allow a few to stay in out of the way areas. They do have a tendency to flop.

I live in Duluth. Last year put in a whole seed pack and got two seedlings, which matured into spectacular plants, although had more spread than I expected. At peak the stalks were about three feet high.

This year (2003), expecting the same rate of success, I planted two seed packs and got hundreds of seedlings, plus at least one that self-seeded from last year. I planted a little earlier, I'm sure, and it was a cold spring ... I suspect the cool temperatures aided germination. Since the seed pack stressed direct sowing, I expected that transplanting these seedlings would be troublesome, but I had no choice since the mass of seedlings needed thinning out in the four small areas I had planted, and I was loathe to keep just the 6 or 10 plants the space would allow. So I experimented with transplanting, and now have 30 plants growing in my boulevard.

The flowers have an intense vanilla-like aroma that seem to originate with the white centers of the flowers. My experience was that they dried green but faded to beige over the course of nine months. Looked striking in a dried arrangement with red astilbe, yellow yarrow, and black-eyed Susan heads.

Bells of Ireland have erect stems that bear light green, bell-shaped, papery calyx flowers with white veination. They grow to 24-36" tall and flower late summer. Full sun to light shade is needed and should be planted in well-drained soil. They make a great dried flower and turn a straw color.