My Garden

Chettle Charm Campanula...fully blue flowers

Last post 06-08-2009 7:53 AM by Alexia. 4 replies.

• 13/06/2009 07:05 PM
  tomharry2 Location: Bath Joined on: 13 Jun 2009 Posts: 1	Reply | Contact My Campanula Chettle charm (bell flowers) used to be usually white with blue tinge. This year I have 3-4 plants with fully blue flowers, no hint of white anywhere. Is this a new hybrid. Has anyone see a fully blue chettle charm?

• 19/06/2009 11:46 PM	In reply to
  susan Location: london Joined on: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 7	Reply | Contact Hello tomharry Very interesting, I have a campanula persicifolia that was bought a few years ago and had white flowers, last year and this it has started showing half blue half white, the blue seem to be on the main thicker stems. maybe it's an age thing?

• 20/06/2009 10:21 AM	In reply to
  miranda Location: Oxfordshire Joined on: 17 Nov 2004 Posts: 2,976	Reply | Contact Are the flowers on plants that have grown from self seeding, tomharry? If so, they were probably pollinated by an insect that had visisted another campanula. If not, then I don't know.

• 20/06/2009 11:04 AM

  In reply to

  Thom Fairweather Location: Lincolnshire Joined on: 01 Oct 2006 Posts: 6

  Reply | Contact I looked up Campanula persicifolia and the natural colour seems to be blue. Maybe this var is similar to when a plant such as Euonymus japonica "variegated" reverts back to the non variegated form. The original white is a mutation that has been vegetatively propagated and it is just returning to original form. So you are probably right when you say it's an age thing. I also think that Miranda's explanation is just as possible. Have a look in the gardens around you as your out and about and see if there are any blue examples. Please message or post if you get a more expert opinion.

• 06/08/2009 07:53 AM

  In reply to

  Alexia Location: Winslow Joined on: 25 Jul 2009 Posts: 6

  Reply | Contact This kind of campanula isn't a very long lasting plant and is likely to replace itself with its seedlings (just as happens with foxgloves). So I suggest what you have now is a seedling of the original.  The natural colour for the basic species, Campanula persicifolia, is mid blue, and a lovely, underrated plant it is. But what's happening isn't reversion (that happens with variegated plants where the original plant changes back to stronger-growing, green shoots), it's replacement. If you sowed seed from ''Chettle Charm', even in the absence of cross-pollination the offspring would include some plants with mid blue flowers, some with pale blue and maybe even some pure white. The offspring of those plants would tend towards the mid blue - each successive generation will have a higher proportion of mid blue and fewer that look like your original 'Chettle Charm'.  That's why most plants with a cultivar name (a name in apostrophes, usually in English) have to be propagated vegetively (by division, cuttings etc) rather than by seed. So the question left is, does the mid blue one suit your scheme?  If so, watch out for seedlings in spring as you can always move them around to where you wnt them.  They look lovely in drifts. If you get a paler flowering plant, you could decide to let only that plant self-seed and your colour mix could become paler for a few years.  But, on average, the mix will always tend back towards the mid blue.  Just like biennial foxgloves always veer towards the bright pink form, even if you start with a white or apricot plant.