Blue Peachleafed Bellflower, an old standard Campanula
"With drooping bells of clearest blue
Thou didst attract my childish view,
Almost resembling
The azure butterflies that flew
Where on the heath thy blossoms grew
So lightly trembling."
-Bishop Reginald Heber
(1783 - 1826)
(1783 - 1826)
Since our White Peachbells & our Blue Peachleaved Bellflowers were given to us as starts without identification, I've wondered if our "Blue" might actually be the cultivar "Telham Beauty," which is usually more to the lavender side of the blue scale. As our Blue appears in different shades through its long seasons of blooming, I've never been able to tell whether it wants most to be the dark blue which is the natural species color or the slightly more pastel "Telham Beauty."
Deadheading extends bloom time dramatically. In 2002, our Blue Peachbells seemed to be finished blooming at the end of July when the White, as well as the C. medium "Canterbury Bells" were still going gung-ho. But after a scant four or five days of bloomlessness, the blue was suddenly in full bloom again for August & continued to rebloom right into November; it takes more than a few mornings of frosts to stop them. These hardy buggers will often start blooming earlier than expected, too, in late March or early April.
There are many gardened species of campanulas, some annual, some biennial, many perennial. We've other perennial campanulas, including Korean Campanula (C. takesimana) which was more suited to the shade garden, so is growing under the paperbark maple; & a sun-loving Spotted Bellflower cultivar (C. punctata "Cherry Bells") which spreads aggressively but tidily into a very pretty groundcover, diminuative Harebells or Bluebells-of-Scotland ( Campanula rotundifolia"Olympica" ), & others of this versatile genus.
C. medium 'Champion Blue' Canterbury Bells