Canterbury Bells


1 entry found.
Picture of Canterbury Bells Canterbury Bells
Common Name: Bellflower, Canterbury Bells
Botanical Name: Campanula spp. (cam-PAN-you-la)
Decorative Life: Some state 5-7 days while others say 8-16 days.
Post Harvest Care:
  • Remove bottom leaves if present, recut stems under water and place into a fresh flower food solution.
  • Leaves generally deteriorate before flowers. These are heavy drinkers therefore it is important to maintain clean flower food solutions.
Harvest Instructions: One report states that flowers should be harvested when flowers are about 50% open while another states when the first flower is fully opened. Engle et al. (1994) noted that seed-propagated plugs can be stored at about 27F up to 6 weeks with or without a light and low temperature treatment prior to storage.
Family Roots:
  • Member of the Campanulaceae (bellflower) family.
  • Native to Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean region.
  • Related species include Platycodon and Trachelium.
Personality:
  • Flowers bell-shaped to funnel-shaped, 1-2 inches wide and long, in loose clusters at the ends of long stems.
  • Stems 18-24 inches long.
  • Species are annual, biennial or perennial, classed as a dicotyledon, leaves not parallel veined.
  • Flowers are not fragrant.
Availability: Mainly spring-fall but also year-round depending on species/cultivar.
Flower Color: Violet-blue, purple, pink, white.
Storage Specifics: 36-43F.
Tidbits:
  • From the Latin "campana" (bell) referring to the shape of the flowers.
  • Species useful as cut flowers: Campanula persicifolia, C. medium, C. glomerata, C. latifolia, C. pyramidalis.
  • Many species are commonly used in gardens, especially in rock garden environments.
  • First year roots and leaves of C. rapunculeus can be used in salads.
Recent Findings: Using 'Champion Blue' and 'Champion Pink', Bosma and Dole (2002) showed that vaselife in floral foam was 3.3 days whereas 10.0 days in a vase without foam, both with flower food solution.