Campanula CARPATICA 'BLUE'

Campanula CARPATICA 'BLUE' - Carpathian bellflower 'Blue', Tussock bellflower, American harebell.

Campanula is a large genus in the bellflower family (Campanulaceae), comprising several hundred species. They grow in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, most abundantly in the Mediterranean and the Caucasus.

The plants are annual, biennial, or perennial herbaceous plants with alternate leaves, often differing between the rosette and the stem. The name of the genus comes from the Latin "campana" - "bell", after the shape of the corolla.

The flowers are bell-shaped, funnel-shaped, or star-shaped, dark blue, blue, lilac, or white. The fruit is an erect or nodding capsule. The seeds are numerous, very fine, white, reddish, or dark, retaining viability for up to four years.

The Carpathian bellflower is a perennial with a slender leafy stem 20-30 cm (8-12 in) in height. Basal leaves are long-petioled, ovate-rounded, gathered in a dense rosette; stem leaves are short-petioled, ovate.

The flowers are funnel-shaped to bell-shaped, 3-4 cm (1.2-1.6 in) across, rich blue in the 'Blue' form. Buds nod before opening, while open flowers face upward. Flowering continues from June to September, and fruits ripen in July and August. In nature, the species grows on calcareous soils in rocky and grassy places of the Carpathians.

Bellflower seeds are very fine and retain viability for up to four years. Soaking such tiny seeds is impractical, so the substrate itself is disinfected: before sowing, it is drenched with a weak solution of potassium permanganate and dried slightly. Scarification and stratification are not required.

For seedlings, seeds are sown in March or April in moist loose soil and only lightly dusted with earth: they need light. The sowing is moistened from a spray bottle with a solution of a growth stimulant: SUPERthrive, HB-101, Aminozol, Epin, or Zircon, covered with a transparent lid or placed in a mini-greenhouse, and germinated at a temperature of 18-20 °C (64-68 °F).

Sprouts appear in about 14 days. Sowings are ventilated daily and condensation is removed. Pricking out is carried out after the formation of 2-3 true leaves; seedlings are planted out into open ground in late May at a spacing of 20-25 cm (8-10 in). Sowing directly in place in late May is also possible, but such a planting will flower only the following year.

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