Campanula medium Blue Bell - Canterbury bells seeds

Campanula medium is commonly known as Canterbury Bells, likely due to its bell-shaped flowers. As a biennial plant, it completes its life cycle over two years before dying back. It is in the second year that it will produce large clusters of single flowers in various bluish hues, as the seed packet does not contain a single variety but will yield individuals with a certain diversity of shades. Sowing is easy and will produce numerous young plants due to the small size of the seeds. Planted en masse, this Campanula makes a striking impact and will easily find a place within a flower bed, where its tall flowering stems will animate spring and summer. It is also valuable for creating very beautiful bouquets.

Campanula medium is a herbaceous plant from the Campanulaceae family, from which it gets its name. This highly diverse botanical family includes approximately 2000 herbaceous or woody species, spread across nearly all climate zones of the globe. While Campanula is the most well-known genus, Lobelias are equally appreciated in gardens. There are over 250 species of Campanulas, distributed in the temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere.
Campanula medium is native to southern Europe. This biennial with an erect habit and relatively slow growth forms clumps of narrow leaves. In spring and early summer of the second year, it forms sturdy stems, sometimes over 1 metre in height. They become covered with bell-shaped flowers, with upturned edges, in shades ranging from white to blue through pink, with self-seeding being a source of great genetic variability. There are several horticultural varieties, some shorter than the typical plant, and available in different colours, with single or double bells of variable size.
These Canterbury Bell seeds will produce entirely single flowers, in different shades of light to intense blue. In the first year, a few weeks after sowing, the plant develops a clump whose basal rosette consists of medium to dark green, slightly waffled, hairy leaves, with a wavy, crinkled margin. In the second year, the Campanula produces flowering stems that rise to about 65 cm, or even more, in spring, which become adorned with numerous bluish bell-shaped flowers 3 to 4 centimetres long. Flowering is followed by the formation of capsules containing a great many small seeds (from 5000 to 12000 per gram!) that self-seed easily in the garden.

Sowing your single blue Canterbury Bell seeds will allow you to obtain numerous young plants that you can plant en masse, or in clumps within a mixed border, preferably in slightly moist soil and under light shade. Their utterly romantic charm will pair perfectly with Peonies, with their large, often intricate flowers, as well as with Old Roses, some of which add the pleasure of scent. Also use them for bouquets, mixing them with Baby's Breath to decorate your house in summer.