Question
QUESTION: How should I be growing my bell flowers?  I thought they were japanese bell flowers but when I looked at pictures on Google the picture of English bell flowers matched mine.  The blooms are about three inches long, purple, and the don't open up all the way.  They just kind of hang over, as the weight of the flower is too heavy for the stem.  Staking doesn't work well.  Would they grow up a wire fence?  Or are they supposed to be a floppy plant?  
Thanks

ANSWER: Let's head over to the Bluestone Perennials search engine and find the plant you are talking about, my friend with the favorite name:

www.bluestoneperennials.com

Next to 'Search Our Catalog' type in the word 'bellflower'.  Lowercase, uppercase, caps, it doesn't matter.

And we get this:

www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/search.html?mv_session_id=povoxRvT&co=yes&ma=yes&mc=1&tf=name&to=f&rf=*&sp=results_pics&st=db&fi=products&mv_value=nametype%3Dscientific&ml=45&mv_value=srchtype%3Dkey&from_search=1&sf=%3Acode%3Aname%3Acommon_name%3Ashort_desc%3Adescription1&se=bellflower&su=1&op=rm&sf=is_coupon&se=1&su=0&op=ne&sf=disc&se=0&su=0&op=gt&hide=1

Yikes!

Platycodon grandiflorus goes by TWO names: 'Balloon Flower / Chinese Bellflower' and 'Japanese Bellflower'.  Some are tall, some are short, some are mounding.  Some are White, some Blue, some light Violet.

And like everything else these days, after 8 years of a Republican Administration, has doubled in price.  So although Bluestone sold these for about $2.50 each, back in the good ole days of William Jefferson Clinton, now they are $5 each.

But I don't know if any of these are in fact the Bellflower you are growing.  So I need to find out from you: Yes, they are, or No, they're not.

Latin names are the only reliable way to tell if two people are talking about the same plant.  Bellflowers are staked without trouble, and if you don't stake them, they are indeed too tall to stay erect if the wind blows or if the blossoms catch too much rain and become too heavy.  These are not Vines and they would not grow up a wire fence.

But they are beautiful Summer plants with a long bloom time.  Worth their weight in gold.

L.I.G.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your response.  None of the pictures on the site you mentioned match mine, but that prompted me to see if I could find another perennial site with a picture.  If you could go to www.perennials.com/seeplant.html?item=1.110.920 you will see what mine look like.  They appear to be the campanula sarastro.  At any rate, this site tells me, like you have, that I will need to stake them.  Which will be a pain, because there are so many of them.  I did it one year, but it looked really stupid.  Perhaps I don't know how to properly stake a plant.  Any suggestions?  Also, do you know anything about black ants laying black eggs on my clematis?  Its covered with both black ants and black clusters, which I assume are eggs. Should I try to kill the ants now with ant powder, should I wait till the egg-like things hatch?  It's really gross.  The flower hasn't bloomed yet, but should any day now.  I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  I don't know what growing zone that is, but it's two hours north of Grand Forks ND, if that helps.

Thanks!  

Cathy

Answer
Excellent!

We have many sites to gaze at your hybrid Bellflower blooms:

www.northbranchnursery.com/2005%20Perennials/campanula_sarastro.htm

Note the North Branch Nurserymen: 'Cutting the plants back hard after flowering will keep them more compact and will help to prevent self-seeding.  This action may also result in a second flush of blooms.'

This is a SPREADING Campanula that stretches 2 to 3 feet across the garden even though it measures a mere 18 inches tall.  No wonder you're confused!

Take a closer look at the black 'eggs' -- are you sure these aren't Seeds?  Ants don't lay eggs on Campanula; Ant eggs are not black and are laid by a Queen or some such Ant Boss in their underground nest, certainly nowhere near your Campanulas.  I would ignore those 'eggs' and the Ants near them.

By the way, do not kill the Ants.  You need them for a healthy Garden.  What do you think your Birds are going to eat for breakfast if you do away with all the Ants?

Staking is rarely a pretty sight.  It takes practice to get the hang of it.  Meantime you can spend a ton of money on stakes as you seek the on that is most 'invisible'.  For now, try getting yourself a package of Bamboo stakes, preferably the green-colored ones; they should be really inexpensive, especially if you buy them at Home Depot although I don't know if you guys have that up there.

Place 1 or 3 stakes in the middle of a clump of Bellflowers.  Stretch GREEN TWINE or GREEN PLASTIC TIE around the Bellflowers, then attach to the center stakes.  You use 1 or 3 stakes for a whole CLUMP in this case, which is just as effective a support but still less obtrusive.

And if you hate the way it looks, keep looking.  Find a gardener with a technique that works for you.  Then copy it.

This is what gardening is all about.  You!

Thanks for writing.

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER