Читать книгу Hardy Perennials and Old Fashioned Flowers - J. G. Wood - Страница 48

Table of Contents

Great Bellflower; Nat. Ord. Campanulaceæ.

A hardy herbaceous perennial from Siberia, growing to a height of 3ft. Its flowers are large, bright, and numerous; well-established clumps will present masses of bloom for more than a month with average weather. As a large showy subject there are few plants more reliable, or that can in any way excel it, more especially for town gardens. It is a rampant grower, quickly covering large spaces by means of its progressive roots; in gardens or collections where it can only be allowed a limited space, the running habit of the roots will doubtless prove troublesome, and often such free growers, however handsome they may be otherwise, are esteemed common, which should not be. The proper thing to do would be to give these vigorous and fine flowering subjects such quarters as will allow them their natural and unrestrained development.

The flowers of C. grandis are more than 1in. across the corolla, the five segments being large and bluntly pointed, of a transparent purple-blue colour, and very enduring; they are arranged on short stalks, which issue from the strong upright stems. They form little tufts of bloom at every joint for a length of nearly 2ft.; the succession, too, is well kept up. Buds continue to form long after the earliest have opened. The leaves are 4in. to 8in. long and ¾in. wide, lance-shaped, stalkless, and finely toothed. They are arranged in round tufts on the unproductive crowns, and they remain green throughout the winter.

As regards soil, any kind will do; neither is the question of position of any moment beyond the precaution which should be taken against its encroachments on smaller subjects. In the partial shade of shrubs it not only flowers well but proves very effective. Useful as this plant is in the garden, it becomes far more so in a cut state. When it is needful to make up a bold vase or basket of flowers for room decoration, it can be quickly and effectively done by a liberal use of its long, leafy, but well-bloomed spikes; five or six of them, 2ft. to 3ft. long, based with a few large roses, pæonies, or sprays of thalictrum, make a noble ornament for the table, hall, or sideboard, and it is not one of the least useful flowers for trays or dishes when cut short. Propagated by division at any time, the parts may be planted at once in their blooming quarters.

Flowering period, June and July.