Cup & Saucer, Canterbury Bells..whatever you call them, these biennial campanulas are always a pleasure. They bloom profusely in shades of blue, purple,white and pink. Ht: 2-3 ft. Zones 4-10.
Campanula medium
WZ,
i grew them two yrs ago, it was only last year they bloomed for me. they are awesome. what struck me funny was, on bush started to be pale pink in color, then turned to a deep blue. i love the lilac colors too. some are coming up again. but i guess have to wait for next year to see the bloom.
question, how do u find the seeds? i can't seem to find any. now it is my turn to learn from U :D LOL!!!!
Gosh, MaVieRose..now you're asking me to remember something that happened last fall!..someone get me an estrogen injection! I remember getting seeds from the great bellflower (campanula latifolia), but I'm sure they are pretty much the same. As I recall, I just waited for the stems to dry out, then shook the seeds out of the little pods on the stems...I'll have to think about that one.
There are lots of beautiful campanulas, but I'm not sure what would grow in your climate. Have you tried any other campanulas?
no, i have not tried the others either. i bought 5 packets of Canterbury Bells, the 1st 4 packet was a total failure, but i love to see how they looked. the last packet i threw on the ground literally to see if something will happen of course upset at the time LOL! well what do u know? they came up unexpectedly. i guess my investment paid off after all!
i've tried allowing the complete plant to dry out, still no luck in finding the seed. to be frank with u i do not remember the seed size either. probably they were too small for my naked eye LOL!
I'll check my seed tote and let you know what size the seeds are..seems like they are about the size of opium poppy seeds...but I'll let you know.
thanks...
Cup and Saucer Canterbury Bells were one of the very first plants i grew from seed a loooooong time ago. Remember being fascinated.
The ones in your photo are Canterbury Bells. The Cup and Saucer type do literally have a saucer of extra petals at the base of the bells - quite weird looking, but lovely too.
Looks as if i'll have some flowering again next year Weez ;)
:-)
Thanks, philomel. Over here, they seem to refer to them as cup and saucer whether they have a saucer or not. I'd love to grow some with saucers, but none of the catalogs specify as to whether they do or not. The "Canterbury Bells" I've been growing are certainly hardy and wonderful to look at, so I suppose I shouldn't complain!
The seeds will be right behind where the flowers dry up. Campanulas make a capsule that vents open at the top. On the Canterbury bells the dried flower hangs on and the vents open up on the ovary behind it. I've found sometimes they don't make a lot of seeds. The seed is very tiny, flattish (I think), and has a reddish brown color. This is a picture of campanula punctata seed pods http://plantsdatabase.com/showimage/2530/index.html C.medium seed pods are similar but larger with the ugly dried up flower still attached. I found many of the campanulas are hard to remove the seed from unless I cut off the stem end of the capsule. Then the seeds will come right out.
Thanks, Poppysue...you are truly a seed guru! This summmer and fall, I promise to get more pics of seed pods and seeds!
P.S. PoppySue: has this info been added to the C. medium in the database?...hint, hint! :)
LOl Weez! I'll get right on it! ;o)
Thanks Poppysue :D! since i could not find any seeds on the dried blowers. i just crushed the flower on the sand. Voilá! this year i got seedlings that came up. keeping my fingers cross next year they bloom!
u two are funny LOL! WZ is it payback time? i saw in another thread Poppysue did the same thing. hehehehehehe! thanks for the laugh ladies. i needed it!
Nothing gets past you, MaVieRose!
sorry WZ :D... i guess i am very observant. u got to remember i move around a lot to see if i can give a helping hand. by astrological sign, i am a Virgo. need i say more? LOL!!!
Thank God for Virgos!
so, mine bloomed last year. so they won;t this? is that what you are saying.
so, mine bloomed last year. so they won;t thins? is that what you are saying.
Canterbury bells are biannual. if u plant the seeds this year, it will bloom the following year. this year it will just keep growing, no blooms at all! the flowers from last year, disperse the seeds on the ground. there are new seedlings all over, but no blooms and am not expecting any this year.
I just cut it back this afternoon. It has thick stocks. Did I kill it? Oh no!!! what have I done? All last years growth was all slimy and a mess.....
Is there any new growth there mimi? If they bloomed last year they probably won't come back anyhow.
i do not know about killing the plant. i cut them back when they were finished blooming. they come back to produce more bloom last year. i do not know about cutting them back on the first year of growth. all i know is i let them grow the first year to gather enough energy for next year's blooming. i foliar feed them during growing season at least twice a month.
slimy??? mine never get slimmy, u probably got lots of snails in ur yard. there are no snails in the desert, a plus for me. i water only in the morning, to allow the plants to dry up during the daytime to avoid insects or diseases.
the plant i had were growing erect. no slim or anything. i have to stake them cause of the heavy flow of winds contantly blowing around here.
no growth..just stalk. I hope I didn;t kill it. bummer...I know my one greenhouse has these. I might have to pick one up. They are just so pretty.
Mine made lots of seeds, but I don't see any plants. Wonder if the mulch kept them from germinating? I know they like to be sown on top of the soil.