oh I can't wait for the answers

Bonny

There are two Canterbury Bells.
C. medium and C. medium var calycanthema.
The first is a large bell shaped flower and the second is the same large bell in a saucer. These are biennial.
Not to be confused with peachleaf bellflowers.

Grow them the same way as foxgloves. Plant seeds In May or June. I already have some nice rosettes growing. These will flower next year. I can usually keep a single plant going a couple of years even though they are biennials.

1. Plant in the spring and let grow into a rosette.
2. If you are somewhere really cold in winter, ofter a bit of protection.
3. Don't expect a reliable self seeder.

That's what I do.

Libby

ps.
4. Buy plant starts at the nursery.

mine sprawled out in heaps on the ground! ... didn't seem to matter if they were growing in full sun, part sun, or shade ... the deep purple bells were especially pretty ... maybe if i had cut them back ...

for the most part, i found them difficult to even stake ... just too scrawny & tall ... *sigh* ... phyl

What Libby says! I grew them one year; they did not reseed. Somehow, I wasn't impressed enough to do it again.

I grew some Brantwood bellflower this year, single drooping bells, and loved the color. It did require staking (don't like that). I actually sprinkled the seed directly by the plant this time. If it reseeds great, if not, so be it.

I have never had foxgloves reseed either.

Floppy, droppy, needs some sort of staking.

sounds like staking these sprawling beauties is the only way to go ... but, really, they don't even respond well to staking ...

has anyone tried to control their tall, weak stems by cutting them back early in the season? ... *if* any reseed next yr. i may try that ... also most of my plants have alot of weak *side* branches ... maybe they should have been eliminated? ...

i really *did* like them ... HOWEVER ... who can enjoy flowers that insist on throwing themselves to the ground!!!

phyl

I bought some at a nursery last year, they flowered this year and they were beautiful!!! I used tomato cages, put them on early summer before they started to get tall. They were so large!!! I'm leaving the spent flowers on a few to save seeds. I'm wondering how long it will take for them to dry so I can plant them?

has anybody tried cutting them back in spring so they don't get sooooo tall?

How tall do they get? I was besotted with this flower ( in pictures) when I was just a kid. I threw some seeds out, and never knew why they didn't grow. Many years later I tried them with no luck from small plants. Then I bought a kind of large one in a 4" pot and it grew and bloomed. I was thrilled. It was beautiful. But it didn't grow very tall...maybe 2 1/2 or 3' tall. It had much bigger blooms than I expected though. I wonder if campanulas require a certain kind of soil or nutrient, because I don't have much luck with any of them. I grew my only blooming Canterbury Bells in a pot.
Linda

I think you get a hardier plant if you direct sow into the garden. I like to sow in the fall after I have done my fall cleanup. Add about 2 inches of a moist soiless medium on the area where you are going to seed and tamp down. This will help to block out any weed seeds from germinating and competing with your seedlings. Mark where you have sown your seed. Canterbury Bell is a Campanula. All Campanula need light to germinate. Do not cover seed or mulch over the area. This is why it's important to mark the spot, so you don't forget and mulch in the spring. I'm in Central Bucks, PA and my seed will start to germinate sometime in May. Seeds are extremely tiny. Sow heavy and don't thin out seedlings. You'll have enough time to divide and move once the plant gets established.

In the past I would grow many varieties of Campanula for retail sales. I would start them in a greenhouse in December. Campanula can be tricky to grow inside, because they have a tendency to damp off, which you will not have if you grow outside. The "Winter Sowing Forum" has a wealth of information.

I'm happy to see this post, as I have a tray of canterbury bell seeds that are just today sprouting under lights in my basement. I think this is usually the time I start sweet Williams or foxgloves for next year, but maybe I'm a little late for starting canterbury bells? Are they especially slow-growing? If I'm way too late, maybe I should just forget it until next year.

ThinMan

After my Canterbury Bells bloom, will they come back next year? Or do biennials behave differently? Do they die after they have bloomed and the only thing that comes back are seeds that may have self-sown??

I've got my third season of foxgloves and my first canterberys bells in bloom this year, they are unbelievable. Even more spectacular then'd hoped.

I can't figure out why only about half the plants flowered. I grew all of them exactly the same way. Started early summer from seed a year prior to blooming, left outside over the winter. Does anyone know why this is.

I have found over my years of trying to grow this plan... 1) they will not bloom if they are not left outside for the winter (they just grow into very health looking weedy things) 2) do need to be staked to keep the many flowers up (they will seek out sun and plants in partial shade are more likely to have weaker, bent, kinked or crooked stalks) .. 3) at the end of the summer cut the stalk off and lay it on the ground where you want it to seed for the following year ... LOTS of them will come up, they look a bit like weeds so remember where they are and don't pull them... 4) if the plants don't get enough water in the fall on (their first year) you could lose them over the winter... last fall in Chicago we had a very dry September & October and I lost most of my foxgloves and many of my canterberrys bells.

Has anyone experimented with forcing the first year plants in a refrigeration to get them to bloom after having a long indoor winter to grow strong?

My Canterbury Bells bloomed for the first time this year. I'd forgotten what I planted in that spot and had a wonderful surprise. They were gorgeous. Planted from purchased seed, but I will save some seeds to see if I can grow more. They lasted extremely well as cut flowers. However, I didn't know how tall they would grow, so I didn't stake them in time. Next year I'm doing the UPSIDE DOWN tomato cage support as it worked so well for my dahlias this year. Photos and instructions here if interested: http://www.dahlias.net/dahwebpg/Support/NoStake.htm

Question now is, do I just cut back the stems that have bloomed or do I pull out the entire plant? I've never grown bi-annuals before. Thanks!

I direct seed cant. bells,pansies & foxglove in early July-keep damp-thin/ transplant Sept. Mulch with straw for winter.Move to main flower garden early spring or leave for flowers

I leave in Texas and have the Canterbury Bells seeds, when should I plant them?

So if anyone has seen the native Canterbury Bells growing by Diamond Lake in California, you will know that they become rangy from too much watering. They stay more compact in their growth habit if they are in more arid, poor soil, harsher conditions. Check Out Diamond Lake, CA wildflowers for an awesome display of these gorgeous flowers. Let them grow in drier conditions while they are maturing and setting their blooms. And, yes, I also use green painted tomato cages. I live in Virginia and our summer thunderstorms can just keep these beauties too watered.

The 'Canterbury Bells' growing in Ca are Phacelia minor.

This discussion has been about Campanula medium, a native of Southern Europe, not America.

The curse of common names strikes again.

I had this one growing last summer where it looked nice next to carding mill rose. I haven't been able to get mine to reseed though. At least every other year I have so many foxgloves growing that I have to edit many of them out. I wish the Canterbury bells were that easy, but they're not. I direct sow them. I find that you need to stake them well before they even start getting tall. If you wait until it's too late, they'll fall over no matter what you do. Sometimes I've had to add a second stake when they get heavy enough with blooms and start leaning over in spite of the first stake. I just use thin bamboo stakes. They do seem to me that they take a little work, but if you get one growing in the right spot where it goes well with it's companions, they can be very beautiful.

Yes, different species, but both tall bells. :) And holds true to these CB of topic they grow less rangy if watered less. Also, some gardeners let their Canterbury Bells grow up through small tomato cages. I collect seeds and germinate indoors. I am starting now. I use plastic egg cartons as mini greenhouses. Will be posting on the Edith J. Carrier Arboretum at JMU on Pinterest on the Gardening Tips board soon if anyone wants to see my "poor woman's greenhouse" seed starting.

once they start growing rake more soil around them

Pinch back when emergent at about 9" for a while. Place tomato cage over plant at about 15", Water little, mine seem to like to go dry. I start seeds indoors starting in February each year and put out in late April for my 6b zone. I love the show! Beautiful cut flowers. I get raves for my bouquets in my office.

Nice read. I always wondered how these grew in more suitable climates.

We are in the wet sub-tropics, steamy full on long tropical summers, typhoons and torrential rain, no autumn or spring to speak of but with a short cool dry sunny winter of three, mostly less months.

I grow these as annuals in winter from plants bought in full bud, the top most flower or two just opened. They've been forced in the Netherlands into bud in warm green houses then exported. The variety is "Bells of Holland" which is shorter with many straight upright stems radiating outwards and upwards, just under 2ft tall or so. Stem and plant is sturdy and broad enough to not need staking. There are a few nice colours including a stunning etherial pink.

They flower nicely for me for a good month or two, as it's cool they seem to open their flower buds quite slowly all the way down from top to bottom. If we get unseasonably warm wet weather and rain they look sad but recover if its not too long. Just as they get nicely rooted out though the humidity and heat takes them. If I stagger the planting from December the first cool month, into January and a few in Feb (the last reliably cool month) I get flowers all winter.

The stunning dark purple that i prefer goes extremely well with the dark red to almost black leaves of the shorter Ti-plants (Cordyline fruticosa). Unfortunately after winter they get composted. Nice gap fillers in our climate along with some of the other Campanulas but longer lasting than most.

Do not cover seeds. They need light to germinate. Grow at 55 degreeshttps://theherbladyblog.wordpress.com

I just discovered the pink variety of these flowers after some opened up in a bouquet I picked up at the store. I fell in love. I'm in Zone 8a and sure it's too late to direct seed anything now. If I thought I could find some already started I'd look but the nurseries here don't have much variety. Any tips for growing these in my zone? What's the best method to get blooms asap (which it sounds like would be next spring) - should I try to sow this fall and winter over, or start indoors now? I'm very new at gardening and in a new home with no established beds yet, so the "for dummies" version is much appreciated ;-) Worth noting that chipmunks and squirrels are well established in our yard - if I direct-sow would they eat these seeds?

Before anyone can answer your questions they need to know where you are located. That makes a big difference.

Yes Floral_uk is right. Could be the South for example which requires a completely different strategy. If I sowed seed where I lived I would battle to get any flowers at all as they only flower in their second season. So you need to start seedlings the year before plant them out Autumn then they will flower in Spring early summer the following year. As we don't have a suitable cool enough summer to start them off I could only sow in winter and they would die when Spring arrived because of the heat and humidity. If I had a cool green house with fans, air-con and a mister I could of course but thats an awful lot of trouble for what is an annual bedding plant in our "zone". So Im lucky the Dutch do it for me. I tried foxgloves (grown in Japan) for the first time this year but they appeared on the market too late to work, only now sending up miserable flower spikes which is too late. Foxgloves have the same growth, "biannual" as Campanula medium. If that helps you Amanda. They don't live much beyond two years but in suitable climates will happily self seed.

I just thought I should say that this year we had quite a stable cool dry winter season and I've had Campanula medium, the same plants I bought in bud last year in early December "Autumn" flowering and performing stunningly well for more than four months! They very slowly open their buds, keeping the open flowers for ages and ages in mint condition, well well after all the buds have opened. Winter is our dry season so watering is required, not excessively, just to keep moist. I think the lack of rain actually is a big plus for the longevity of the flowers and the fact I planted in shady conditions. Our humidity is never much bellow 60% even in the dry season. We are in our fifth month and the temps have gone into 26-28%C, this week 30-31%C with 80-90% humidity and still there are flowers! It's truly remarkable. Much smaller flowers but the plants haven't wilted yet. Sure they will and very soon, though. What I did after three months and a half of solid performance was remove all the spent flowers that had partially formed green leafy seed capsules, this made them produce many smaller new buds, the ones still flowering now.

I would love to get the crisp white ones next year but I haven't seen them here at all. Maybe "Bells of Holland" the shorter variety only come in pink and purple.

Highly recommended as a winter annual or bedding plant in sub-tropical climates if you can buy them already established, in full bud. Choose the plants where the buds are not open, just a sprinkle of the larger top buds open. Our temps don't fall much bellow 10- 15% in winter and not much higher than 20-23 %C so for Canterbury bells it's like one long mild late Spring early summer.

For Southern gardens in the USA including parts of Florida, right up to Miami with no frost, winter is the time to enjoy! Plant producers and buyers for retail take note. They outperform even things like busy tizzies and bedding begonias. I planted in the shade with only an hour or so of passing sun a day.

Sorry- I'm in upper South Carolina, zone 8. What I read on these does say they are suitable for zone 8. We do get some cold spells most winters where temps don't get above freezing for a few days at a time- not often but a few times a year.