Bellflowers are very beautiful summer flowers. They are very popular with many gardeners because of their beautiful appearance and are often sown in the gardens.
Especially the blue flowers are particularly fascinating. In the early romantic period, the bellflower was the symbol of love, infinity and longing. Thus, many poems were written and published about it. Especially the bell flowers adhere to the ideas of love, because they shine in the garden in various shades of blue.
The bellflower is also called Campanula patula and is a plant variety from the bellflower family or Campanula. The name is derived from its flower shape. Thus, Campanula means “little bell” or “bell”. The botanical name was given to the bellflower by the Swedish naturalist and botanist Carl von Linné.
Bellflowers are easily recognized by their tubular, bell-shaped and star-shaped flowers, which open in June and September, depending on the variety and species. The flower owes its name to these.
A large part of bellflowers blooms blue or purple. Here the spectrum ranges from a pale sky blue to a dark purple. At the same time, there are also many white-flowered species, such as the dwarf bellflower, which is also called ‘Bavaria White’ and the beautiful tufted bellflower ‘Alba’. But not only the color of flowers and their shape are variable. At the same time, the arrangement of the striking flowers differs between species. Often they stand in panicles or in clusters, but sometimes individually. The leaves are undivided. These can also be toothed or heart-shaped pronounced.
Bellflowers bloom throughout the summer season, depending on the variety and species, the beautiful flowers appear in the months of May and August. The time of flowering therefore extends over a particularly long period and this is optimal for pollinator insects such as bees, and butterflies.
Most varieties and species of bellflower thus bloom from June and July until the month of September. Here, especially the ground-covering and small-growing varieties can form a dense carpet of flowers, which shines in purple, blue, white or pink.
The fruit is capsule-like or cylindrical or ovoid and arranged in ten nerves. The seeds are scattered through the holes.
With beautiful blue or white colored flowers, campanula or bellflowers are of special value for the garden in summer. This family, which belongs to the genus of bellflowers, includes a total of more than 300 species. Most of the flowers are deciduous perennials, while others are evergreen. Some other species are grown as annuals or biennials in the garden. They are found in a wide variety of habitats in the northern hemisphere. Most species originate from the Mediterranean region, the Caucasus, the Balkan Peninsula and some others also from North America, East Asia, the Himalayas as well as Iran.
The bellflower is common almost in the whole Europe up to Siberia. In the country of Austria, it is often found throughout the country.
The bellflower can be used in many ways in the garden. The low, mat and cushion-forming species bring a lot of color to a rock garden or near walls. For example, they go perfectly with yarrow, thyme or baby’s breath. In sunny herbaceous borders, larger species such as tufted bellflower do particularly well next to taller evening primroses, yarrow, marguerite or alongside speedwell. However, because of their romantic flower shape, bellflowers are popular companions for roses. For the shady beds are suitable in combination also Prachtspiere, foxglove and honeysuckle as planting partners.
Bellflowers come in a wide variety of sizes and shades of purple, blue, white and pink. Depending on the variety, bellflowers are perennials or groundcovers. In principle, these are significant decision criteria. However, gardeners should pay special attention to the life of the plant. Most varieties of bellflower are perennial, however, annual or biennial varieties occur at the same time. Perennial species are usually hardy, some more so than the others.